From the Inside Out: Building AI Literacy through Ecosystems of Professional Learning

Most professional development does not change practice, not because educators lack motivation but because the model is broken. Large-group trainings deliver content to passive audiences, and the learning evaporates once people return to their buildings. What if the missing ingredient was the design? In this round table discussion, two coaches share the system they built to make AI literacy professional learning stick: a research-grounded Ecosystem of Learning that starts with one-to-one coaching, builds through intentional cohort design and scales through community, producing measurable shifts in teacher self-efficacy, collective efficacy and sustainable AI-integrated practice. You will explore why cohort-style learning produces outcomes large-group training cannot, the design principles that make it work, how to cultivate collective efficacy through professional learning design and how AI literacy cohorts can grow into lasting communities of practice. Educational leaders and coaches will leave with a practical blueprint and planning tool for redesigning professional learning from the inside out, built for belonging rather than compliance.