Learning communities

In high-performing systems, professional learning communities (PLCs) have emerged as a cornerstone program. These are groups of teachers who meet as teams to examine student achievement, set achievement goals, identify essential and valued student learning, develop formative and common summative assessments, share teaching strategies and best practices. The expectation is that this collaborative effort will produce improved student achievement.  At the heart of the concept, however, is the notion of community. The focus is not just on individual teachers’ professional learning but of professional learning within a community context – a community of learners, and the notion of collective learning. Learning communities share collective responsibility for the learning of all students within the school or school system. Collective responsibility brings together the education community, teachers, and support staff as well as families, to improve learning and teaching.  

Professional learning communities emphasize three key components: collaborative work and discussion among the school’s professionals, a strong and consistent focus on teaching and learning within that collaborative work, and the collection and use of assessment and other data to inquire into and evaluate progress over time (Bolam et al., 2005).

This is good advice on creating PLCs. In order “to create a professional learning community, focus on learning rather than on teaching, work collaboratively and hold yourself accountable for results” (Du Four (2004, p.6). Practical ways that learning community members do this is exchanging feedback about their practice with one another, visiting each other's classrooms or work settings, and sharing resources. Collaborative conversations quickly move from “What are we expected to teach?” to “How will we know when a student has learned?”

References

Bolam, R., McMahon, A., Stoll, L., Thomas, S., & Wallace, M. (with Greenwood, A., et al.) (2005) Creating and sustaining effective professional learning communities (Research Brief RB637). Nottingham, United Kingdom: Department for Education and Skills.

DuFour, R. (2004). Schools as learning communities. Educational Leadership, 61(8), 6 – 11.