Professional Learning Communities
Professional Learning Communities
In the preceding sections that focused on learning, and professional development, the professional learning communities model was seen as central for sustainable development. Here the major responsibility of principals was established as learning, as instructional leaders, making learning the centre of their everyday work, directing everything they do in school toward supporting student learning (A. Hargreaves & Fink, 2003; Muijs, Chapman, & Armstrong, 2013). The contention is that if a community of learners approach is adopted, the school principal as instructional leader, is able to successfully manage change, moving all the stakeholders and the school forward, leading learning, and contributing to school improvement (Fullan, 2014).
Professional learning communities are advocated because they create an organisational environment for professional development (Lassonde, Israel, & Almasi, 2009), enabling teachers to share knowledge, materials and good practice, supporting one another as they learn together and reflect on their teaching practice (Barber & Mourshed, 2007). In professional learning communities, teachers actively participate in groups with peers sharing purpose, supporting the school to build its capacity and produce successful learning outcomes for all students. Professional learning communities can be used as a tool to enhance learning, develop teacher leadership, build school capacity, and enhance student learning outcomes (Humada-Ludeke, 2013).
Since 1990 it has been suggested that creating a professional learning community in the school or making the school as a learning community are useful ways to improve schools (Harris & Lambert, 2003), as they enhance the capacity of both schools and individual teachers (Stoll et al., 2003a). Building professional learning communities is considered as vital for teacher professional development, school improvement projects and improving students outcomes (Harris & Lambert, 2003). For a number of years, professional learning communities have had a place in school improvement initiatives (Groundwater-Smith & Mockler, 2009). What works in school improvement is the daily experience of all teachers collaboratively sharing in a purposeful profession that effectively addresses their needs and enhances their practices (Fullan, 2011). The purpose of professional learning communities is to support the building of the school’s capacity for a sustainable improvement cycle that enhances students’ learning (Stoll et al., 2003b), and continues learning and development for teachers as leaders (Humada-Ludeke, 2013). Professional learning communities provide learning that is generated by active participation and engagement in the work to construct ideas and knowledge that can be shared (Wenger, 1999). Rather than using a top-down method, as from the school leader to the teacher, it might be more acceptable to have the improvement strategies introduced by their peers. In this approach teachers have the opportunity to collaborate in a safe environment, locally within a school, or cooperating with other schools, where no authoritative force is being used, such as the authority of the school principal (Desimone, 2002).
Although it appears there is limited evidence that professional learning communities or school collaboration have a positive impact on students’ learning (Armstrong, 2015; Stoll et al., 2003a), students’ learning is the main focus of teachers in such learning communities. The more successful a professional learning community is to be, the more it will be associated with a positive impact on students’ achievement and professional development (Stoll et al., 2003b). Fullan (2000) found that the more successful schools are those which from a professional learning community, have a focus on student learning, and change their teaching and learning methods to get better results. Professional learning communities build teachers’ commitment and develop the capacity to learn and sustain improvement over time (Harris & Lambert, 2003). However, the arguments for implementing the professional learning community models inside schools appear to be based on the nature of the teaching profession, rather than on a solid research foundation. Whilst other professionals in society generally work as teams, teachers work almost alone inside classes. Therefore, by providing the opportunity through professional learning communities for teachers to share ideas and their knowledge of successful practice, and enabling them to learn from others by observing their classes, is thought to be able to enhance students’ learning (Barber & Mourshed, 2007). Moreover, professional learning communities can be seen as purposeful arrangements for teachers to be together to examine their practice and plan for developing their professional practice and improving school performance in a collective and collaborative way (Groundwater-Smith & Mockler, 2009). Desimone (2002) also argues that traditional professional development is not enough to enhance teachers’ practice, suggesting the need for teachers to be effectively involved in professional learning communities to interact with other teachers and to share practical solutions for some of the problems that they might face. Teachers develop practices to deal with their environment and facilitate ways to get better results for their schools and others as well (Stoll et al., 2003b), and so professional learning communities are considered to be a key factor for sustaining improvement practices in schools (Novick, Kress, & Elias, 2002). As sustainable improvement can no longer be dependent on the capabilities of one person, schools need to build purposeful professional learning communities to support school leadership, professional development, and enhance students’ outcomes (Harris & Lambert, 2003). In addition, professional learning communities identify the best practices, which can then be shared with the other teachers in other schools (Barber & Mourshed, 2007), and this is a good investment in teachers’ professional development (Stoll et al., 2003b).
To build professional learning communities there are conditions that need to be established within schools in order to be able to apply the reflection and critique so necessary for improvement (Groundwater-Smith & Mockler, 2009). An effective professional learning community has a number of characteristics, some of which are: a shared vision; collective responsibility for students’ learning; a focus on learning; reflective professional enquiry’ and openness, respect and support (Stoll et al., 2003b), as well as a high level of trust and a focus on professional learning (Copland, 2003). The creation of professional learning communities involves a paradigm shift, from a ‘solo’ mentality where each teacher works alone, towards a culture of collaboration, which requires collaborative, purposeful work, transparency, tolerance, shared practices, and the valuing of continuous learning (Humada-Ludeke, 2013).
Collaborative Culture
Fullan (2011) believes that the heart of school improvement is teacher professional development, which is linked to student learning. One way of progressing school improvement is by fostering collaborative cultures as essential environments for developing all teachers. In collaborative school cultures teachers participate in teams, exchange ideas and share reflection in order to improve their individual and other practice (Hopkins & Stern, 1996). Collaboration can provide social support for reflection and opportunities for teachers of differing levels of performance to learn from peers. Collaboration is not only sharing ideas and practice, it is also a way of reinforcing one’s knowledge and understanding through defending and explaining one’s ideas to a group of peers (Newell, 1996). Successful schools provide teachers with opportunities for collaborative work to learn together, encourage the sharing of ideas, practices, opinions and experiences and through this process teachers reflect, enquire and collaborate, which builds the capacity for school improvement (Harris & Lambert, 2003). By reflecting on their work, teachers investigate and think critically about their teaching (Newell, 1996), reflecting dissatisfaction with their own practice (Hopkins & Stern, 1996). In the process of collaboration with their peers, who have different experiences and teach different academic subject areas (Newell, 1996), regular opportunities are provided for teachers to share their new practices and solve their problems. Working collaboratively as a part of an effective professional development community helps focus attention on shared objectives that lead to school improvement, as professional development is a continuous learning process focused on making a difference in all students learning (Harris & Lambert, 2003). Teachers might learn new things from other teachers sharing successful practices with them, but whether they are capable of implementing them inside their own classrooms or in their schools, is another issue. Teachers are expected to acquire new skills and knowledge to be effective experts in teaching and learning, to collaborate, and to embark on a journey of continuous learning for themselves, towards school improvement. This requires teachers to be committed to enhancing their practices and to be skilled in their subject areas (Fullan, 1995). This will not happen unless teachers are effectively involved in professional learning communities, where their individual and collective learning is boosted, and their leadership and management skills are enhanced (Stoll et al., 2003b).
As with all aspects of school improvement and professional development in general, one of the most common statements made by teachers when professional learning communities are being created is that they do not have the time to commit to them. It is very true that teachers have heavy workloads and they are often preoccupied with many administrative and management responsibilities: “How can teachers possibly fit even one more task into their days?” ask Lassonde et al., (2009, p. 3), and Hargreaves queries how schools and classrooms can change to achieve such aims. Furthermore, some school reform initiatives discourage teachers from engaging in the process of professional learning communities, a problem exacerbated by the rapid turnover of school principals, and of school improvement project leaders as well, Hargreaves (1999) argues. Teachers and schools wishing to promote and sustain professional learning communities should monitor and evaluate the development of their practice and the implementation of the professional learning communities over time, and take the opportunity to minimize the obstacles they might face (Stoll et al., 2003b).
To sum up, although the concept is not underpinned by a huge body of research, being a relatively new idea, it appears that professional learning communities are well worth implementing in order to enhance school effectiveness, teacher performance and students’ learning outcomes because they appear to help in building the school capacity for sustainable improvement. Professional learning communities can inspire teachers to commit to the school improvement initiatives, to become part of it, and provide professional development.
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