On January 2, 2023, The Pennington School welcomed Dr. Liza Talusan to campus as guest speaker for a day of faculty professional development. Dr. Talusan is the author of the acclaimed book, The Identity Conscious Educator: Building Habits and Skills for a More Inclusive School. Her work with Pennington was focused on the four steps she identifies as necessary to build a more inclusive classroom.

Talusan kicked off the day with an activity to identify the types of identities and experiences that teachers may have familiarity with and/or distance from. Her reflection/discussion question was, "How might your proximity inform and have an impact upon your teaching, leading, learning, advising, or coaching?" At the end of the session, she invited the faculty to “move to action” by introducing a framework of "start, stop, change, and continue.” Teachers then spent some time in small teacher teams reflecting upon Talusan’s presentation and sharing their experiences with one another. 

Faculty development at The Pennington School is continual, important, and essential to maintaining teacher excellence. Work for the 2022-23 academic year has included a study of student assessments and evaluation of achievement, through the lens of equity and inclusion in the classroom. Dean of Faculty Deborah Fermo noted, “We create many opportunities throughout the year for our teachers to engage in intentional and collaborative professional development that examines best practices. This benefits all students and is critical to who we are as educators and as members of the Pennington community.”