The Penn GSE Center for Professional Learning designs and delivers professional learning opportunities that support educators, leaders, policy-makers, entrepreneurs, and other professionals to deepen their knowledge, build their networks, and grow their careers. The Center for Professional Learning offers Virtual Institutes, Certificate Programs, and a variety of webinars and workshops throughout the year.
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Certificate Programs
Penn GSE certificate programs are our most advanced and rigorous professional learning programs. Certificate programs extend over the course of several months and offer you a rich, in-depth professional learning experience. If you are a professional who is looking to engage in advanced professional development in a particular area of interest, a certificate program may be the right fit for you.
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Dialogue Across Difference
Dialogue Across Difference is designed for K-16 educators, administrators, and leaders from all disciplinary backgrounds looking to deepen their understanding of issues surrounding civic discourse in educational settings.
Executive Coaching
The Executive Coaching certificate program aims to empower leaders with the tools and strategies needed to foster positive transformation in others. Led by faculty experts in adult learning, our program provides evidence-based education tailored to help you achieve your coaching goals effectively.
Health Professions Education
The Health Professions Education certificate program is an accelerated, interprofessional program designed for current and aspiring clinical faculty in our global community who are involved in training tomorrow's healthcare professionals. The program prepares you to design, deliver, and evaluate sophisticated education programs throughout various healthcare disciplines.
Inquiry in Social Studies Classrooms
The Inquiry in Social Studies Classrooms program provides participants with the tools, resources, and research-based practices that will allow them to design ambitious Social Studies inquiry instruction for middle and high school students of all levels.
Instructional Coaching
The Instructional Coaching certificate program is designed for teacher mentors, coaches, and instructional leaders looking to develop the skills and tools necessary to create deliberate, collaborative, and flexible instructional coaching experiences for new and experienced colleagues.
Introduction to Teaching with Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) promise to transform teaching and learning. In this program, you’ll have a chance to explore big ideas, design learning activities, and collaborate with peers as you try new approaches to implementing artificial intelligence into your classroom.
Project-Based Learning
The Project-Based Learning certificate program is designed for current educators who strive to create rich, meaningful, and rigorous learning experiences through student-centered approaches to teaching and learning. Developed in collaboration with the Science Leadership Academy, the Workshop School, Inquiry Schools, and EL Education, the program leverages the educational expertise of Penn GSE’s faculty and some of the most skilled and experienced student-centered learning practitioners from across the country.
Project-Based Learning for Global Climate Justice
The Project-Based Learning for Global Climate Justice program equips educators with the knowledge and skills they need to design projects that engage students in this important environmental justice work. Learn about PBL for Global Climate Justice and how to engage your students in authentic, action-oriented, and meaningful learning experiences. The time to take action on global climate change is now.
Race, Diversity, and Equity in Higher Education
The Race, Diversity, and Equity in Higher Education certificate program is designed for higher education professionals looking to deepen their understanding and develop their leadership on historical and contemporary topics related to inclusion, justice, power, and privilege in higher education settings.
Setting Up a Coaching Program
Setting Up a Coaching Program equips school and district leaders with the frameworks, tools, and supports needed to develop or refine a mentoring and coaching program that is aligned to standards, research, and best practices.
Teaching Math Routines for Computational Fluency
Prepare to shift towards the Standards for Mathematical Practices by implementing a research-based number sense routine into your classroom. Number Talk is a high-leverage, low-risk routine focused on developing computational fluency using representations to support student learning and connecting to essential mathematics.
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Collegiate Athletics for Senior Leaders
The Collegiate Athletics for Senior Leaders certificate program empowers you to learn what questions to ask (and what answers you need to know) to support a healthy, sustainable, and mission-aligned athletics department. This program is ideal for presidential cabinet members, new presidents, senior leaders, and those who aspire to move into those roles. This institute can strengthen your candidacy with this unique, first of its kind educational certificate.
Data Science Methods
Through the Data Science Methods for Digital Learning Platforms certificate program, you will learn to use both algorithms designed specifically for digital learning platforms and how to effectively apply algorithms developed for more general purposes to digital learning platform data.
Global Education Entrepreneurship and Innovation
The Global Education Entrepreneurship and Innovation certificate program is the world’s first online program designed for education industry leaders, school leadership teams, entrepreneurs in education, researchers and investors, or anyone interested in addressing critical issues in education through innovation.
International College Advising
The International College Advising certificate program allows you to develop your capacity as an international college counselor to better advise your students who are seeking higher education experiences outside their home countries. Developed by faculty at Penn GSE, this program is the only comprehensive college advising program designed for international college counselors.
Leading Effective Teams
The Penn GSE certificate Leading Effective Teams is an interprofessional program that will provide you with strategic tools and frameworks to identify problems and leverage opportunities to strengthen your team and your organization.
Strategic Leadership in Education
The Strategic Leadership in Education certificate program provides a sustained, rigorous, and cohort-based leadership development experience that empowers you to embrace your leadership role with purpose, confidence, and skill.
Teaching and Leading Social-Emotional Learning
The Teaching and Leading Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Certificate program teaches you methods to support healthy and equity-oriented social and emotional learning in your classrooms, schools, and organizations.
TESOL Essential Series
The TESOL Essential Series Certificate program is focused on the theory and practice of language education. Participants have the opportunity to develop and demonstrate their competencies as language educators.
Custom Programs
Penn GSE works with organizations, networks, and systems to design and deliver custom professional learning solutions that draw on the unique resources, research, and faculty of the Penn Community. Contact ProfessionalLearning@gse.upenn.edu to learn more about our custom programs.
Policies & Refunds
Attendance Policy
In order to successfully complete a given program, you must complete all of the required asynchronous assignments and attend all of the synchronous sessions and meetings. If you have to miss a synchronous session or meeting, you should contact your Program Director in advance in order to make arrangements. At their discretion, the Program Director may require you to attend an additional meeting or complete an additional assignment to make up for an absence.
Cancellation and Refund Policy
If you must withdraw your registration, a full refund will be issued for requests received no later than one week prior to the program's start date. If a withdraw request is received after the enrollment deadline and prior to the program’s second session you will receive a fee credit or option to defer, valid for one year, for a future Penn GSE Professional Learning program. Withdraw requests received after the program’s second session will not be granted a credit, deferment, or refund. Cancellations can not be made after the program’s start date however you may be eligible for a deferment, see the policy below. If Penn GSE Professional Learning must cancel the program, a full refund will be issued, or you may request a deferment.
Deferment Policy
This Professional Learning Deferment Policy outlines the guidelines and procedures for deferring enrollment in a certificate program at Penn GSE Professional Learning. This policy aims to support learners who may encounter unforeseen circumstances or personal challenges that prevent them from continuing with their professional development as planned. By allowing learners to defer their enrollment, we strive to provide flexibility and support for their educational journey while maintaining the integrity and quality of the certificate programs offered.
Eligibility for Deferment:
Learners enrolled in a program at the Penn GSE Center for Professional Learning are eligible to request a deferment.
Deferment requests will be considered for exceptional circumstances, including but not limited to medical reasons, family emergencies, personal challenges, and unforeseen professional commitments.
Deferment Request:
Learners seeking deferment must email a formal written request to the Penn GSE Center for Professional Learning, providing detailed reasoning.
The deferment request must be submitted prior to the second session of the program the learner is seeking to defer. Late requests may be considered only under exceptional circumstances and will require additional justification.
Our Faculty
The Penn GSE Center for Professional Learning engages with teaching faculty from Penn GSE, Penn, and beyond. Our teaching faculty bring a wealth of experience and expertise to our programs, and work hard to cultivate a collaborative professional learning community.
The following are some of the faculty who teach within our professional learning programs.
Contact Us
Contact us at ProfessionalLearning@gse.upenn.edu
Zachary Herrmann
Executive Director
Alana Elkins
Senior Associate Director & Portfolio Manager
Gillian Daar
Teaching and Learning Program Lead
Taylor Alexander
Center Coordinator