Professional Learning Communities in Schools Online Workshop

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Professional Learning Communities in Schools
Online Workshop
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Who will find this workshop useful?

• Teachers / lead teachers / school leaders
• Syndicates / departments
• AtoL facilitators

How to use this workshop

• To update, review and/or reflect on professional
  learning communities.
• As a focus for professional development in
  exploring formative assessment.
• To support AtoL in-depth programmes in schools.

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What is a professional learning community?

• Can we come up with our own definition?
• These words may help you
• school goals
• improved student learning
• changing teacher practice
• continuous improvement
• whole school focus

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Professional learning communities

• Teacher professional development that improves
  the learning of all students, organises adults
  into learning communities whose goals are aligned
  with those of the school and community.

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A definition

• A professional learning community is one in
  which teachers update their professional
  knowledge and skills within the context of an
  organised, school-wide system for improving
  teaching practices. In addition, teachers'
  efforts, individually and collectively, are
  focused on the goal of improving student learning
  and achievement and making the school as a whole
  become a high-performing organisation.
• Timperley, H. (2004)

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Why professional learning communities?

• When teachers are part of a professional
  learning community in which they are
  acknowledged, supported and challenged, and feel
  that it is safe to take risks and share
  information, they can review and alter their
  teaching practice so that it makes a real
  difference to their students learning.
• Ministry of Education Effective Literacy
  Strategies in Years 9 to 13, p.18

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Collaboration

• Staff development that improves the learning of
  all students provides teachers with the knowledge
  and skills to collaborate.
• Discussion points
• Do we agree with this statement?
• How do we ensure that this happens in our school?

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We know its working because

• What are the qualities of an effective learning
  community?
• Think, pair, and share with your colleagues

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Professional learning communities

• Share a mission, vision, goals and values
• Are collaborative teams working to improve
  student learning
• Are result-oriented
• Are action-oriented
• Have a commitment to continuous improvement

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Where do we find professional learning
communities?

• Classrooms and staffrooms
• Department and syndicate meetings
• Meetings where schools or teachers from different
  schools get together
• At school board of trustees meetings
• Networks and clusters
• Other communities of practice such as
  professional and subject associations

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Successful professional learning communities

• If we could truly establish high levels of
  learning for all students as the guiding
  principle for the school, and if we were willing
  to honestly confront the brutal facts of the
  current reality in our school, the right
  decisions about what to do and what to stop doing
  often become evident.
• Rick DuFour, 2004

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Purpose of professional learning communities

• To improve the success of all students by
  focusing attention on the impact that decisions
  relating to school organisation, teaching,
  assessment, and curriculum have on student
  learning.

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Structuring professional learning communities

• To achieve high levels of learning for ALL
  students ALL adults will need to work together
  within a collaborative culture that fosters high
  performance and achievement.

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Plan for success

• Meet during the school day
• Analyse student achievement data to identify
  areas of need and priorities
• Create, implement, and evaluate interventions to
  address learning gaps
• Organise in the most appropriate way to achieve
  your goals (syndicate, department, whole school).
• Report results to the whole staff

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Role of school leaders in supporting professional
learning communities

• Establish clear expectations, parameters, and
  priorities
• Monitor progress and outcomes of professional
  learning communities
• Meet with professional learning communities to
  review their learning and demonstrate support
• Provide resources including time, materials, and
  access to research

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Teachers who are part of a professional learning
community

• Take part in quality conversations that include
  discussing specific qualitative and quantitative
  data to find out about their students
  literacy-related strengths and needs
• Take responsibility for their own professional
  growth and increase their knowledge of literacy
  learning
• Develop a shared language as they learn literacy
  strategies and discover how to use and teach them
  strategically
• Ministry of Education Effective Literacy
  Strategies in Years 9 to 13, p.18

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How can we use this presentation?

• Share it with other staff in your school
• Share some of Helen Timperleys work as
  professional reading
• Shifting the Focus Achievement Information for
  Professional Learning A Summary of the
  Sustainability of Professional Development in
  Literacy - Parts 1 and 2
• Form a professional learning community or quality
  learning circle
• For more details on forming your own Quality
  Learning Circle

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References

• Timperley, H. (2004). Shifting the focus
  Achievement information for professional
  learning A summary of the sustainability of
  professional development in literacy - parts 1
  and 2. Retrieved 2005, August 17 from
  www.minedu.govt.nz/goto/pdinliteracy
• Dufour, R. (May 2004).What is a professional
  learning community? Educational Leadership
  Journal, 61(8).
• Ministry of Education. (2004). Effective literacy
  strategies in years 9 to 13 A guide for
  teachers. Wellington Learning Media.