I chose to read “Building Professional Learning Communities” from the AALF.org website. This is a very relevant topic for me as our school is just in the midst of building PLC’s in order to better focus on our School Improvement Plan. Our school board has recently implemented a new model for traditional Program Leads or Department heads. We are now called Learning Leads and the focus in my school is leading our colleagues in practicing high yield instructional strategies in the hopes of improving our students’ critical thinking skills.
I appreciated the following quote from the article “A teacher can never truly teach unless she is learning herself. A lamp can never light another flame unless it continues to burn its own flame. “--Rabindranath Tragore (1861-1941) I have noticed a re-awakening of the flame in my lamp since I began to explore the benefits of using technology in the classroom. I am also more engaged in self reflection now that I am the leader of a Professional Learning Community. I have a ton to learn in this area as I have only participated in one or two groups in the past. A big obstacle is that these PLC’s are being “mandated” by the board and the principal and all staff members are required to participate in one. The other downside is that the focus for these groups has been predetermined. In my opinion, PLC’s must be more organic. Teachers who have a common interest in a new strategy or a new technology or a new program of any kind, should be encouraged to work together to explore their interest. If teachers are working on something important to them personally, they will be more likely to make real progress in their learning and will be more likely to inspire improvement in their students’ learning too.
In the the board’s defence, they have been encouraging these more organic groups to form for several years now and teachers have not all chosen to get involved. We have been offered release time to get together with others in our school to work on any project that would show improvement in student achievement. Only a few of us have taken advantage of this. So, now we are being given more direction. I am choosing to see the PLC groups in a positive light. We will be able to share instructional strategies, practice moderated marking, track student improvement and hopefully feel like we are making more of a difference in our students’ achievement. “Michael Fullan argues that 'when teachers are working alone, not learning together, they are not as confident about what they are doing...By contrast professional learning communities not only build confidence and competence, but they also make teachers and principals realize that they can't go the distance alone.' (Fullan, 44)” I agree with this statement completely.
Key Questions
1. What structures and strategies would you need to put in place in order to build a professional learning community in your school or district?
We are well on our way in our school. We have divided ourselves into groups of 4 and are meeting weekly for a half hour at lunch to work through the stages of the professional learning cycle.
2. How can technology assist in the development of shared, collaborative learning?
Everyone on staff will be contributing to a Google Slide Deck about the instructional strategies, samples of moderated student work, resources used and “discoveries” we make along the way.
Resources:
http://beta.aalf.org/cms/?page=Education%20Topics-%20Pro%20Learning%20Comm
Fullan, M. Leading in a Culture of Change. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2001.
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