Professional Development

Start the school year off strong and join fellow educators for a five-week book study, "Teaching When the World is on Fire". Politics, war, racism, LBGTQ+ issues – there is no end to the hot topics that may come up in classrooms. In this era of aggressive and polarized politics, it may be challenging to address these difficult topics in…

By Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor In the past two years, Christine Rushlow surveyed members of the Plymouth Canton Education Association (PCEA) with two questions: what problems are you confronting in your school role, and what expertise do you offer which could help others address issues they’re facing? As the PCEA vice president for elementary, Rushlow has led a popular…

If your group/team would like to reserve meeting space at MEA Headquarters, please complete the form linked here. Please submit the completed form along with any questions you may have to Dominique Muse at dmuse@mea.org. You can also contact her by phone at (517) 337-5491. To ensure enough time for processing, please submit this form 14 days before your event.…

Register now for MEA’s inaugural Social Justice Conference, happening virtually on Saturday, April 27. Learn more  about the schedule, which includes sessions, breakouts and roundtable conversations to help improve your understand of social justice issues and how they intersect with our work in public education.  

You are invited to a five-week, online book study on White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo. This New York Times bestseller explores the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality. Free SCECHs are available for MEA members participating…

Please join us as we explore some great learning opportunities hosted by MEA and MiNE - Michigan New Educators. Centered in the Michigan Core Teaching Practices, this training series is a continuation of our fall offerings. The Winter Series focuses on instructional practices and helping navigate the end of year evaluation meeting. You do not need to attend all offerings…

Hundreds of MEA members participated in the fall series of professional learning opportunities relating to student violence. The series continues with more offerings focusing on de-escalation, post-incident best practices, communication infrastructure, leveraging policies and law, and managing stress. Register here today!      

Paraeducator and Pontiac union leader Fred McFadden trained his counterparts in Oak Park at the beginning of this school year. The first time MEA member Fred McFadden attended Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) training 27 years ago, he was newly employed as a technician at an inpatient mental health facility in Auburn Hills, Havenwyck Hospital, and he didn’t believe the techniques…

Political, social, economic and environmental issues and events confront us daily. The question is how do we meet these moments? We can either face these moments as impenetrable obstacles (walls) or as challenges we can solve and move through (doors). I choose to find doors. The sessions in this series present us topics and techniques that provide a chance to…

The Center for Leadership & Learning department is ready to kick-off our next book study series featuring the title, How to Be an Antiracist. The book study will be held Wednesdays from 6:00-8:00 p.m. beginning June 14, 2023. Attendees must be a member in good standing and will need to purchase their own book for this SCECH eligible study. Registration…