Dw5

EDU696

Week 5 Instructor Guidance

Welcome to Week 5! This is an activity packed week while you work in groups with class peers in a mock professional learning community (PLC) group. In Week4, you presented the action research peer review you previously completed  in EDU 694 or ECE 660 to your peers in this class. Additionally, you assumed the role of a presenter at a professional conference and created a poster that outlined your action research peer reviewed study. This week you will continue to work on your Folio and share a section of your Week 4 assignment with your peers and complete two discussion posts.

Professional Learning Communities

A PLC might consist of a group of teachers, administrators, and other school stakeholders working together on a particular initiative related to the school. The function of a PLC may vary, but universally a PLC consists of a small number of people, usually 5-15 (DuFour & Eaker, 2010). Typically, a PLC meets over a long period of time, normally a year, and everyone works together helping each member reach a goal of learning or completing an initiative.

For more information, view this less than three-minute video from SolutionTree (Links to an external site.)  (2009) about PLCs in a school setting. While watching this video, think about how you could create a PLC in a school setting to help with action research. If you already have PLCs in place working on action research, consider sharing your thoughts on the video as part of your discussions responses this week or start a conversation in the Global Campus Café!

Though the concept of a PLC may be generally understood by most, the impact a PLC makes in the staff community is sometimes easily overlooked. According to Stoll, Bolam, McMahon, Wallace, and Thomas (2006) and Williams, Brien, Sprague, and Sullivan (2008), when PLCs are incorporated into a school’s culture, the following experiences are observed:

· There is a reduction of teachers who work in isolation.

· An increased commitment to the mission and goals of the school that increase school vigor in working with students.

· Teachers feel a “…shared responsibility for the total development of students and collective responsibility for students' success” (Stoll et al., p.27).

· There is a tendency for an increased meaning and understanding of the content that teachers teach and the roles they play in helping all students achieve expectations.

· There is a higher likelihood that teachers will be well informed, professionally renewed, and inspired to inspire students.

For students, the results might include:

· A decreased dropout rate and fewer classes "skipped" (Williams et al,. p. 31).

· Greater total academic gains than in traditional schools that do not have PLC’s.

· “…smaller achievement gaps between students from diverse backgrounds” (Williams et al., p.32).

If results such as those noted above are linked to teachers working in PLCs, it is imperative that every school create a PLC to foster such strong teacher and academic success. It has been argued that that the only legitimate use of teachers' time in the U.S. is standing in front of the class, working directly with students. However, as Burnette (2002, p. 48) noted, in studies

… comparing how teachers around the globe spend their time, it is clear that in countries such as Japan, teachers teach fewer classes and use a greater portion of their time to plan, confer with colleagues, work with students individually, visit other classrooms, and engage in other professional development activities… which is why they have such higher academic gains than any other country.

In the United States, the idea of teachers as merely facilitators of knowledge will need to change and the value of teachers in professional development communities will need to be strengthened.

Richardson’s article (2011) in Chapter 8 of the Brown and Burnaford (2014) text discusses the ideas presented above on the need to move to professional development communities in the U.S. She notes that

…educators assume collective responsibility for student outcomes. At the heart is the belief that a team of teachers working together can achieve more than one teacher working alone. So, rather than expecting a single classroom teacher to know everything that’s necessary to respond to every student’s needs, teachers work together to identify the needs and determine the response. (p. 6)

Week 5 Assessments Overview

Review the full instructions for each assessment on the Week Five homepage in addition to this guidance.

Discussion 1 – Working Together to Achieve a Common Goal

In this discussion, your instructor will assign and post your mock Professional Learning Community (PLC) group of approximately two-to-three peers. Once your group has been identified, begin collaborating with the group in this discussion and in the Professional Learning Communities, Discussion 2.

Discussion 2 – Professional Learning Communities

In this discussion, you will deliberate the use of professional learning communities as it relates to the 21st Century Professional Development framework with an emphasis on technology. When working on this discussion, consider that through the PLC process, teacher isolation is reduced and through ongoing discussions an increase in understanding and application of 21st Century Skills and state standards including CCSS is likely.

 

References

Brown, T. & Burnaford, G. (2014). Masters in education capstone reader. Bridgepoint Education.

Burnette, B. (2002). How we formed our community. Journal of Staff Development, 23(1), 51-54.

DuFour, R., & Eaker, R. (2010). Professional learning communities at work. Bloomington, IA.

SolutionTree (2009, October 9).  The power of PLC’s at work  (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEgmHHeCl4U

Stoll, L., Bolam, R., McMahon, A., Wallace, M., & Thomas, S. (2006). Professional learning communities. Journal of Educational Change, 7(4), 258-261.

Williams, R., Brien, K., Sprague, C., & Sullivan, G. (2008). Professional learning communities: Developing a school-level readiness instrument. Journal of Educational Change, 7(4), 221-258.

EDU696

Week 5 Instructor Guidance

Welcome to Week 5! This is an activity packed week while you work in groups with class peers in a mock professional learning community (PLC) group. In Week4, you presented the action research peer review you previously completed  in EDU 694 or ECE 660 to your peers in this class. Additionally, you assumed the role of a presenter at a professional conference and created a poster that outlined your action research peer reviewed study. This week you will continue to work on your Folio and share a section of your Week 4 assignment with your peers and complete two discussion posts.

Professional Learning Communities

A PLC might consist of a group of teachers, administrators, and other school stakeholders working together on a particular initiative related to the school. The function of a PLC may vary, but universally a PLC consists of a small number of people, usually 5-15 (DuFour & Eaker, 2010). Typically, a PLC meets over a long period of time, normally a year, and everyone works together helping each member reach a goal of learning or completing an initiative.

For more information, view this less than three-minute video from SolutionTree (Links to an external site.)  (2009) about PLCs in a school setting. While watching this video, think about how you could create a PLC in a school setting to help with action research. If you already have PLCs in place working on action research, consider sharing your thoughts on the video as part of your discussions responses this week or start a conversation in the Global Campus Café!

Though the concept of a PLC may be generally understood by most, the impact a PLC makes in the staff community is sometimes easily overlooked. According to Stoll, Bolam, McMahon, Wallace, and Thomas (2006) and Williams, Brien, Sprague, and Sullivan (2008), when PLCs are incorporated into a school’s culture, the following experiences are observed:

· There is a reduction of teachers who work in isolation.

· An increased commitment to the mission and goals of the school that increase school vigor in working with students.

· Teachers feel a “…shared responsibility for the total development of students and collective responsibility for students' success” (Stoll et al., p.27).

· There is a tendency for an increased meaning and understanding of the content that teachers teach and the roles they play in helping all students achieve expectations.

· There is a higher likelihood that teachers will be well informed, professionally renewed, and inspired to inspire students.

For students, the results might include:

· A decreased dropout rate and fewer classes "skipped" (Williams et al,. p. 31).

· Greater total academic gains than in traditional schools that do not have PLC’s.

· “…smaller achievement gaps between students from diverse backgrounds” (Williams et al., p.32).

If results such as those noted above are linked to teachers working in PLCs, it is imperative that every school create a PLC to foster such strong teacher and academic success. It has been argued that that the only legitimate use of teachers' time in the U.S. is standing in front of the class, working directly with students. However, as Burnette (2002, p. 48) noted, in studies

… comparing how teachers around the globe spend their time, it is clear that in countries such as Japan, teachers teach fewer classes and use a greater portion of their time to plan, confer with colleagues, work with students individually, visit other classrooms, and engage in other professional development activities… which is why they have such higher academic gains than any other country.

In the United States, the idea of teachers as merely facilitators of knowledge will need to change and the value of teachers in professional development communities will need to be strengthened.

Richardson’s article (2011) in Chapter 8 of the Brown and Burnaford (2014) text discusses the ideas presented above on the need to move to professional development communities in the U.S. She notes that

…educators assume collective responsibility for student outcomes. At the heart is the belief that a team of teachers working together can achieve more than one teacher working alone. So, rather than expecting a single classroom teacher to know everything that’s necessary to respond to every student’s needs, teachers work together to identify the needs and determine the response. (p. 6)

Week 5 Assessments Overview

Review the full instructions for each assessment on the Week Five homepage in addition to this guidance.

Discussion 1 – Working Together to Achieve a Common Goal

In this discussion, your instructor will assign and post your mock Professional Learning Community (PLC) group of approximately two-to-three peers. Once your group has been identified, begin collaborating with the group in this discussion and in the Professional Learning Communities, Discussion 2.

Discussion 2 – Professional Learning Communities

In this discussion, you will deliberate the use of professional learning communities as it relates to the 21st Century Professional Development framework with an emphasis on technology. When working on this discussion, consider that through the PLC process, teacher isolation is reduced and through ongoing discussions an increase in understanding and application of 21st Century Skills and state standards including CCSS is likely.

 

References

Brown, T. & Burnaford, G. (2014). Masters in education capstone reader. Bridgepoint Education.

Burnette, B. (2002). How we formed our community. Journal of Staff Development, 23(1), 51-54.

DuFour, R., & Eaker, R. (2010). Professional learning communities at work. Bloomington, IA.

SolutionTree (2009, October 9).  The power of PLC’s at work  (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEgmHHeCl4U

Stoll, L., Bolam, R., McMahon, A., Wallace, M., & Thomas, S. (2006). Professional learning communities. Journal of Educational Change, 7(4), 258-261.

Williams, R., Brien, K., Sprague, C., & Sullivan, G. (2008). Professional learning communities: Developing a school-level readiness instrument. Journal of Educational Change, 7(4), 221-258.