Scaling Adaptive Expertise
- Last updated: 17th August, 2026
At IRIS Connect’s recent live event, Professional Development in the Age of AI: Reducing Workload, Growing Agency, Andy Newell explored a challenge that feels increasingly familiar in schools. How do we scale high-quality professional learning while still supporting the adaptability, judgement, and agency that effective teaching requires?
In his session, Scaling Adaptive Expertise, Andy encouraged educators to look beyond traditional models of professional development and to think more carefully about how teachers actually grow and improve in complex classroom environments.
From Routine Expertise to Adaptive Expertise
Andy began by drawing an important distinction between routine expertise and adaptive expertise. Routine expertise allows teachers to become efficient and confident in established practices. This is an essential part of professional growth, particularly early in a career.
Adaptive expertise, however, goes further. It is about knowing when established routines are no longer enough, and being able to respond thoughtfully to new pupils, new challenges, and changing contexts. In a profession as dynamic as teaching, adaptive expertise is not a luxury. It is a necessity.
The real challenge for schools is how to develop this kind of expertise consistently and at scale.
Why Traditional CPD Often Falls Short
Much professional development is designed with efficiency in mind, rather than adaptability. Andy highlighted several issues that many schools will recognise:
- One-size-fits-all training that prioritises consistency over context
- Short-term initiatives focused on techniques rather than professional thinking
- Limited time and space for reflection, experimentation, and feedback
While these approaches can help establish routine expertise, they rarely create the conditions teachers need to develop strong professional judgement.
The Importance of Deliberate Practice and Reflection
A key theme in Andy’s talk was the role of deliberate practice. Teachers need structured opportunities to look closely at their own practice, test ideas, and reflect on their impact over time.
For this reflection to be meaningful, it needs to be:
- Grounded in real classroom evidence
- Supported through professional dialogue and coaching
- Focused on improving decision-making rather than meeting external expectations
Without these elements, professional development can easily become something teachers do, rather than something they genuinely learn from.
Technology as a Support for Better Professional Learning
Andy was clear that technology, including AI, should not replace professional judgement. Instead, its value lies in how it can support better conversations about teaching and learning.
Used well, technology can:
- Reduce the administrative workload associated with observation and feedback
- Make classroom practice easier to capture and revisit
- Enable more regular, low-stakes opportunities for reflection
This is where video-based professional learning has particular potential.
Scaling Adaptive Expertise Through Video and Coaching
To develop adaptive expertise, teachers need opportunities to see practice clearly, analyse it carefully, and talk about it openly. Video makes this possible in ways that traditional observation cannot.
Video-supported professional learning allows teachers to:
- Revisit moments from their own classrooms that would otherwise be forgotten
- Reflect at a time that fits around the realities of workload
- Use shared evidence as the basis for focused coaching conversations
When combined with personalised instructional coaching, video supports both the development of core routines and the growth of adaptive, responsive practice.
Where AI Fits Into Professional Development
AI also has a role to play, particularly when it is used to support reflection rather than direct it. Andy emphasised that AI should help teachers think more deeply about their practice, not tell them what to do.
When used responsibly, AI can:
- Help identify patterns across lessons or over time
- Highlight moments that may be worth reflecting on
- Reduce time spent on administrative tasks, freeing up space for learning
This fits closely with the wider aim of reducing workload while strengthening teacher agency.
What This Means for School and Trust Leaders
For leaders, the implications are significant. Scaling adaptive expertise requires a shift in how professional development is designed, supported, and evaluated.
This includes:
- Moving beyond attendance or compliance as measures of impact
- Investing in coaching, reflection, and sustained professional learning
- Using technology to enable personalised growth at scale
Above all, it requires trusting teachers as professionals and creating the conditions in which thoughtful, adaptive practice can develop.
Supporting Adaptive Expertise with IRIS Connect
At IRIS Connect, this thinking underpins our approach to professional development. Through video-enabled reflection, personalised instructional coaching, and the thoughtful use of AI, schools can scale professional learning while keeping teacher agency and professional judgement at the centre.
Andy Newell’s session was a timely reminder that in the age of AI, the goal of professional development is not automation. It is adaptation.
About the Author
Andy is the founder of IRIS Connect and a regular speaker at professional learning events. He is passionate about bridging the gap between what the research shows about effective professional development and the practical delivery of impactful learning interactions. His journey began at the University of Sussex with groundbreaking work on the use of video in initial teacher training and culminated in the development of a web based platform to enhance teachers’ reflection and collaboration. Since founding the company Andy has worked around the world supporting effective teacher development, and has been involved in many inspiring educational projects and research.
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