Learning partnerships are a necessary component of teaching and learning, with our most critical partnership being between teachers and students. We also have learning partnerships with one another, with parents, with outside agencies and many others. Many of these partnerships are governed by various sets of norms and have different power structures and dynamics.

Critical Professional Learning Partners, are those that make you a better educator by challenging ideas and exploring new learning. These are people with whom you have a safe space to explore ideas and enhance your understanding of a topic or create a new way to engage students. The level of psychological safety is high and the norms in place reflect that, these norms may be spoken or unspoken.

We interact with others with whom we teach all the time. We collaborate often, share ideas, exchange materials, etc. But, who is it that you seek out when you are looking for professional advice or want to pick someone’s brain? You know they won't necessarily tell you that you are right or what you want to hear, but they also won't judge your current thinking and help you navigate what you are struggling with. These are our Critical Professional Learning Partners. 

In my role as an administrator I have some that are teachers and some that are administrators. These are the people with whom I can say, ‘here is my situation, what would you do?’ or, ‘I’m thinking about doing this project, can you think of anything I should include?’ I also have the good fortune that my wife is a teacher as well and that partnership extends into both personal and professional realms.

You can ask this from anyone (and so you should get a well-rounded view) but commonly we find people whose opinion and judgment we rely on more and more. These are partners who have demonstrated time and time again that their opinion and thinking are worth considering and their input is valuable.  In studies of burnout there is evidence to show that having a strong collegial network that would include these Critical Learning Partners can be a powerful means of support which can boost teacher retention (an example article can be found here)

You also ought to consider wanting someone in your circle who is contrary to your way of thinking. I have taught with educators who I thought, ‘if I can convince this person, I can convince anyone!’ Having different people for different subjects can be incredibly helpful since we all have our spheres of expertise. We know that all of us are smarter than any one of us but sometimes we do not have time, or the situation doesn’t lend itself to talk to everyone about it. 

These are also different from Simon Sinek's notion of Worthy Rivals, in that the dynamic is different. For the Worthy Rivals there may be no interaction between parties other than a compare and contrast model where you can seek to duplicate their strengths of practice. Critical Professional Learning Partners have a synergistic element where there is a back and forth dynamic that leads to increased understanding and enhanced growth. Ideally, both parties grow from the experience.

Who are your Critical Professional Learning Partners? Do you have any, one or many? Can you develop these through professional learning communities? Can your administrator or other teachers help to connect you with one? These are all important questions for growth. Take stock of your current circle and see if there are any opportunities to add to it. Through use of social media I would argue the opportunities are certainly there to expand far beyond the your local professional sphere and make connections worldwide which can bring an infusion of new ideas and reflection.