A leadership team designs the objectives by researching successful instructional
methods that infuse 21 st century skills into the curriculum. The training model is usually
led by “expert” teachers that allow for “student” teachers to feel more comfortable and be
more productive during the trainings (Wu, 2005). Because the staff development
trainings involve instructional practices and curricular revisions, the professional
development should involve follow up sessions most likely in the form of
observations/visits in the classroom. Joyce and Showers (1988) asserted that in-class
assistance, or the coaching model, is the most effective strategy in the training of
educators. The most dramatic finding in Joyce and Showers’ (1988) work is that with a
coaching model “teachers can acquire new knowledge and skills and use it in their
instructional practice when provided with adequate opportunities to learn” (p. 72). The
school leader has a major role in ensuring that the culture of the school is one of change
and innovation that values both the integration of technology and 21 st century skills in the
classroom and teaching excellence. When innovation and change is part of the
leadership’s driving force and woven in the fabric of the school and its operations, it can
easily become part of the best practices in the classroom (Morrison, 2008). Teachers
need administrative support, feedback and resources in order to competently change their
instruction and engage students by integrating 21 st century skills into the content areas.