I have been doing a lot of research about communities lately; currently I am reading Roland S. Barth’s Learning by Heart (2001), which I am enjoying very much. In one section of the book he talks about communities of learners, definitions of what they are, and what influences them in schools. He speaks of school culture and communities of learning being intertwined and I agree with him. I would like to share some thoughts and ask for yours as well.
Learn
In my experience working in two school districts I believe school culture effects everything that happens in a school and historically school cultures have been very resistant to change of any kind. The only way to change the culture of a school is from within, no easy task, but needed. School culture affects all the learning that takes place, for students as well as adults.
There is lots of talk in schools about Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s), but the more I read about them the more I question if they are true learning communities. In a learning community we make a commitment to one another to learn together over time, we hold one another accountable; we are all responsible for the welfare and well being of the community as a whole. In other words, we care about one another. We celebrate successes, we work together to overcome challenges, we are eager to share and learn from, and with one another because we believe we are smarter and more effective together as a community of learners than we are as individuals.
Please share your thoughts with me; in your school or district do you have true learning communities?
“Schools exist to promote learning in all their inhabitants. Whether we are called teachers, principals, professors, or parents our primary responsibility is to promote learning in others and in ourselves. That is what it means to be an educator”.
How many of you can honestly say this statement would accurately describe the school or district within which you work or teach? I love the sentence, “Promote learning in others and ourselves”. I am not referring to the mandatory learning that takes place in all schools, the new math program or grading program being implemented this year. What I am referring to is our own learning, something we are interested in and want to learn about.
There is lots of talk in schools about Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s), but the more I read the more I question if they are true learning communities. In a learning community we make a commitment to one another to learn together over time, we hold one another accountable; we are all responsible for the welfare and well being of the community as a whole. In other words, we care about one another. We celebrate successes, we work together to overcome challenges, we are eager to share and learn from, and with one another because we believe we are smarter and more effective together as a community of learners than we are as individuals.
Please share your thoughts with me; in your school or district do you have true learning communities?
I think we often do a bang up job of promoting learning communities among our students but a less terrific job of doing so with teachers. At my school we have what I would describe as mini learning communities within our larger community. There are many teachers who pursue their own professional development and eagerly share their learning with others who are very receptive to what they are sharing. Other teachers, not so much. They are reluctant to participate even in whole group inservice sessions and yet generally appreciate what they have learned once they participate. The big question is how to support resistant learners among the faculty without forcing things on them. How can we help them see the value of taking or making the time to build a PLN or pursue their own professional development in a way that is meaningful for them? How do we get around the “not enough time” issue? Is it simply a question of self-motivation? Immediate relevance?
Such a compelling and important question. I know of many schools that are striving to become learning communities, but I know very few that I would truly classify as such. So often, PLCs are driven from the top, learning targets are defined by those at the top, and culture changes very little. I’ve learned much about how true learning communities work through my fellowship with Communities for Learning, though. The framework and the dispositions that guide the practice of this community support the sort of change you speak to. It’s inspiring to see it in practice.
@Robin I agree with you about promoting learning communities among students but so much for teachers/administrators. I don’t think we can ever get around the issue of time, that is something everyone has to come to on their own through choices they make, it is not something anyone can give another. I struggle too with supporting resistant learners, the balance between forcing something on others, vs allowing classroom practices to remain relatively unchanged just because change is uncomfortable. Thanks for your questions, more for me to think about. As always wish the answers were easy and universal!
@Angela
My experience has been the same in terms of PLC’s being driven top down, goals defined before you even begin. I will look at the framework of Communities for Learning, always looking for other avenues for my learning.
I agree that in many aspects a PLC does not represent a true community. I have begun referring to the PLCs I lead as collaboratives. And with the use of collaborative networking technologies, it evolves into a Professional Networked Learning Collaborative.
Overcoming objections is one thing, but overcoming culture is the primary barrier to implementing a culture of collaboration be it PLC or PNLC. Culture trumps all. All plans, all strategies, and all methods are at the mercy of culture. Until the culture of a school is adequately addressed, all endeavors, including PLC or PNLC are bound to fail.
I agree Rob, and I also feel that culture is one of those non discussable subjects in schools too. I don’t have an answer as to how you change culture, but continue to read and learn how some have been successful in changing individual school and district cultures. Thank you for the comment looking forward to following and learning from you in this area.
I was on the ground floor of helping our district develop the culture of learning communities. My experience resulted in the same conclusions many of you spoke about. Not only are the topics driven by top down, they are not based on research.
I am currently the principal of an elementary school where they simply changed the name of the weekly faculty meeting to PLC. We are struggling to create a paradigm shift. PLCs if done correctly validate the professionalism of the profession as well as demand us all to behave as experts.
I think people are afraid of accepting the culture that a Professional Learning Community needs to sustain itself. That is – we take responsibility for identifying concerns, developing solutions and assessing the effectiveness of those solutions.