Professional Learning Communities

Only recently have I been made aware of the educational reform that is Professional Learning Communities (PLC). The PLC educational model aspires to improve schools by using collective inquiry from teams of educators. PLC have successfully increased student achievement by teachers focusing on learning rather than teaching. Teams of teachers work together to collaborate on educational issues within their school system. These teams focus on three specific areas: 1) student learning, 2) collaboration, and 3) results.

It would seem schools and administrators would be jumping aboard such a model, especially since PLC are showing promising results. This “new” way of helping students learn focuses time on the continuing education of teachers. I believe, teachers who continue to learn, and learn together (versus isolation), are more likely to find value in new educational practices that reach learners. Still, as we educators are well aware, one of the largest obstacles to overcome is “change.” To get PLC off the ground, administrators and teachers must agree that a “change” is necessary to improve student achievement. Administrators must make “time” available for educators to collaborate and begin to review their department or grade level, in order to begin to establish desired student outcomes.

Once teams have agreed upon student outcomes, they should follow the SMART goal setting method. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. The SMART Model for goal setting asks three important questions: 1) What are you going to do, 2) Why is this important to do at this time, and 3) How are you going to do it. Respective of these questions the teams agree to what they want their students to learn, then determine how and when to measure if students have learned it.

As with anything new, getting these teams started, focused and working efficiently can be difficult. From the research I have read, it seems important to use a PLC book review to get the PLC Model and collaborative teams off the ground. Assign, read and discuss the book each week during regularly scheduled PLC meetings. Remember, teams should have in place a protocol to follow prior to team collaborative sessions to ensure all members agree to “how” meetings will be conducted. This will ensure the appropriate sharing of ideas and allow for more collaboration.

The reality of PLC is that the professional development of teachers is taking place from within rather than from the outside; and through collaboration of these educators more students are achieving at a higher level. Who is using PLC and what results can you share?