Professional Learning Communities

“There’s an assumption that schools are for students’ learning. Well, why aren’t they just as much for teachers’ learning?”- Seymour Sarason, as reported by Carol Dweck, Mindset

What is a PLC?

Research supports that PLCs are the single most effective method for improving student learning in lasting ways because the practice supports enhanced teaching and LEARNING on multiple levels.

“Professional Learning Community” is most often used in two ways to describe:

1. An entire organization committed to continuous learning and its applications through collaborative practice that values shared vision and collective strength;

2. A smaller team (also called a PLT) – in a school, a team of teachers who work together to improve student learning by enhancing classroom instruction.

Educators as Learners“Learning communities in schools harness the

collective energy of staff for growth and change. The accomplishments of teachers working as individuals, good as they may be, pale in comparison to the accomplishments of a united faculty. It is like the difference between a bunch of good basketball players and an outstanding basketball team. The synergy that emerges from groups of teachers learning together and helping one another holds great potential for both improving student outcomes and creating a caring, nurturing environment among the staff (Joyce & Calhoun 1995).”

- Ward and Castleberry, Educators as Learners: Creating a Professional Learning Community in Your School

Professionalizing the ProfessionCharacteristic NOT a Profession A ProfessionCareer Path Egalitarianism – no

career ladderRecognition for achievement – clearly defined career path

Professional Relationships

Isolation – practice is a freelance craft

Teaming – practices characterized by teamwork and collaboration

Entry and Training Poor preparation – “anyone can do it”

Great preparation – high entry requirements: standards, skills, testing; ongoing training

Induction Little or no mentoring Mentoring is the expectation and the norm

Professional Development

Weak or nonexistent Integral to the career

Research Practice unrelated to research

Research informs practice

Accountability Student outcomes unrelated to promotion and salary

Accountability across the board

Power Structure Little impact on institutional decisions

Shared decision making

Adapted from the research and work of Katherine Boles, Harvard University

Professional Development that Works“Professional development works, if it

works at all, by influencing what teachers do….The quality and impact of professional development depends on what teachers are being asked to learn, how they are learning it, and whether they can make the practices they are being asked to try work in their classrooms.”

- Elizabeth City, Richard Elmore, Sarah Fiarman, and Lee Teitel in Instructional Rounds in Education: A Network Approach to Improving Teaching and Learning

PLC = Infrastructure for Continuous ImprovementConsider the rate of change in our world just since 1900.

Education should be about preparing students for citizenship in our ever-changing world. Yet, how significantly have schools changed to meet the increased rate of change in our world?

Are schools “stuck” in an Industrial Age model that utilizes a paradigm of assembly line and factory structures? Are strategic planning processes adequate for keeping up with 21st C. changes in thinking, learning, and working?

PLC enables teachers to overcome history and habit and improve the ways we teach and reach changing learners.

PLC provides an infrastructure that can handle the changes that education will need to make for 2015, 2030, … AND THE TEACHERS ARE EMPOWERED TO LEAD THE CHANGES IN A COLLABORATIVE, SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT!

Est. 97 Schools/Systems Across U.S. in PLC

Amazing Resource: www.allthingsplc.info

Brief History of PLC at Westminster• Reading educational research [PLCs are

NOT new]• Talking to contacts at schools

Prior to 2006-2007

• Jill Gough asks Bo Adams to support on-site PD

• Bo Adams begins administrative steps to develop opportunity for in-school teacher collaboration

• Center for Teaching Cohort piloted

2006-2007• Math-Science-Econ 8 PLC pilot

launched• CFT Cohort implemented• Alfie-Kohn Book Club experiment

2007-2008• Math-Science-Econ 8 PLC – year 2

(change in team composition…a few members of year 1 remain)

• 21st Century PLC begins• CFT plans cohort

expansion/Westminster plans PLC expansion

2008-2009

Pilots/Experiments in PLC at Westminster

For two years, we have been piloting/experimenting with various groups that we have called “PLCs.” We are learning a lot about group vs. cohort vs. PLT

• Alfie Kohn Book Club • Center for Teaching Cohorts • 21st Century PLC on Teaching and Learning • Math-Science-Econ8 PLC

• Less Time• Less Support• Less Rearranging Structurally/Temporally

• More Time• More Support• More Rearranging Structurally/TemporallyAl

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Structure of 09-10 PLC at Westminster

The 07-09 Math-Science-Econ 8 PLC model has become an ideal, best practice in many ways. This PLC meets during a class period, 4 days/week to engage in • lesson study and action research (beginning), • pedagogy discussion and shared research/common reading, • medical/instructional rounds, etc.

The principals, department chairs, and the Center for Teaching are creating the following model for PLCs at Westminster moving forward:• 09-10 PLCs in JH and HS Math and JH English; modified experiment with JH

History• The PLCs will contain grade level PLTs. Additionally, there will be a stand-

alone PLT in Science 8. Facilitators/Co-facilitators being trained in CFT SI in July (27 and 28)

NAIS President Pat Bassett and Best Practices

Westminster PLC Framework•collaborate on lesson study, action research, instructional rounds, etc.•meet approx. four hours a week for entire year•exchange information on school issues/student learning•discuss current educational topics•putting into practice ed research – classroom “labs”•share experiences, strategies, and methods; collective goals and objectives

Pat Bassett’s Six Principles

for Effective PD•collaborative•ongoing•site specific to address local issues•focused on deepening a teacher’s content knowledge•reflective of educational research•provide time, support, and resources to enable teachers to master new content and pedagogy, and integrate this knowledge and skills into their practice

PLC Development at Westminster – Transferrable Learning

Research

•Read, Read, Read•Conduct “Admin Action Research”Admin-

Teacher Partners

•Shared Vision•Roles and StrengthsBuild

Process

•A Critical Nucleus•Experiment•Careful “Ripples in a Pond”•Communication

Concentrating on Results•Common Assessments•Formative Assessments•Summative Assessments

Shared Reflection Building Relationships•Trust•Shared Values•Support

Shared Reflection

Utilizing Processes (Protocol)•Lesson Study•Action Research•Instructional Rounds

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EnhancedStudentLearning

PLCs use collaboration, feedback, and shared reflection to maintain a balanced focus on Results, Processes, and Relationships with the ultimate goals being IMPROVED TEACHING and ENHANCED STUDENT LEARNING.

Analysis of student work and research

Adapted from Susan Sparks who adapted from Interaction Associates, LLC

4 Key Questions of a PLC1. What do students need to

learn?2. How will we know if/when

students have learned “it”?3. What will we do if students

already know “it”?4. What will we do if students

do not learn “it”?

Transforming Schools for 21st C.“In this new paradigm, as we reflect on

ourselves as learners in a larger community, we will better understand how our children feel as learners in similar situations. We will have new insights about cooperative learning in heterogeneous groups, learner-centered teaching, and the inquiry-based approach to learning because we will have the experience firsthand as part of a learning community.”

- Ward and Castleberry, Educators as Learners: Creating a Professional Learning Community in Your School