creating professional learning communities with impactalmaharris.com/indicative_presentations/pintar...
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Creating Professional Learning Communities with Impact
Prof Alma HarrisDr Michelle JonesInstitute of Educational LeadershipUniversity Malaya
Leading LearningPintar Foundation
June 2014
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The Institute of Educational Leadership aspires to be a world class centre of research.
It aims to achieve excellence in research, teaching, professional development and consultancy.
Who are we?
+Eleven shifts to transform the system
4. Transforming Teaching into the profession of choice
5.Ensure high performing school leaders in every school
+Your Questions ?
+Professional Learning Communities (Harris and Jones) Wales – All Schools
England – Teaching Schools
Vancouver – All Schools in NOI
Singapore – All Schools
Russia – 3 regions, 1 Republic, 20 Municipalities
Lithuania – All Schools
Australia – 8 Schools, 6 States and Territories
Chile – Higher Education
Hong Kong – Principals’ Institute
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•Leadership shifts according to need
•Collaborative teams formed for specific purposes
•Team membership changes according to task, roles and expertise
Distributed Leadership MATTERS (Harris, 2013)
Uplifting LeadershipHargreaves, Boyle and Harris 2014
It is not just teams and teamwork that keep these organizations aloft; it is the vibrant nature of the teamwork itself.
+A Professional Learning Community
Is a group of professionals working in a disciplined collaborative way in order to improve learner outcomes.
Allows Teachers’ Professional learning to Impact on Student Learning.
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Practicalities
Pitfalls
Precision
5 ‘P’s of PLCs
Purpose Persistence
+Purpose
Professional Learning Communities
+ Why PLCs?Why PLCs?
The only way to improve outcomes is to improve pedagogy
In order to improve pedagogy schools need to find a way of changing what goes on in the classroom
PLCs provide one means of positively changing pedagogy that impacts on student learning.
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+Building Collective Capacity (Harris and Jones, 2011)
PLCs enableCollaborative working that allows professionals to enquire into practice in order to improve practice
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Disciplined Collaboration
Disciplined collaboration means that teachers work interdependently through a process of focused and rigorous enquiry in order to improve their own practice and the practice of others.
In essence, disciplined collaboration enables teachers to reflect upon their own learning, as teachers.
(Harris and Jones, 2012: Jones, 2013)
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Practicalities
Professional Learning Communities
+ Different Versions of PLCs
Communities of Practice - Wenger
Communities of Interest - Networks
Professional Learning Circles
PLC Critical Elements - Kruse
PLC 3 Big Ideas - Du Four
PLC Dimensions – Hord
PLC Characteristics - Bolam
+PLCs (Harris and Jones, 2008)
Starts and ends with student data / evidence
Teacher learning that connects and impacts on student learning
PLC teams engage in ‘Disciplined Collaborative Enquiry’
Distributed Leadership
Outcomes result in change at 3 levels – Student, Professional and Organisational
+Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)
You do not ‘DO PLCs’ once a week or once a term.
Rather, being a member of a PLC is a constant on going process where teachers work collaboratively in cycles of enquiry to achieve better results for the students they teach.
Jones 2013
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Precision
Professional Learning Communities
+ ‘Non-Negotiables’ of a PLC
1.Focus of the Professional Learning must be connected to improving Student Learning
2.Teachers learn through a process of Disciplined Collaborative Enquiry
3.New rather than re-cycled learning & knowledge
+ 7 Phases of a PLCHarris and Jones 2009
Implementation
Innovation
Impact
+ Phase 1 of a PLCHarris and Jones 2009 Implementation
+ Phase 2 of a PLCHarris and Jones 2009
Implementation
Innovation
Impact
+ Phases of a PLCHarris and Jones 2009
Implementation
Innovation
ImpactWhat research is there about our focus?
How do other teachers teach this?
Where can we get more information?
What do we agree to do next?
+ Phase4 of a PLCHarris and Jones 2009
Implementation
Innovation
Impact
+ Phase 5 of a PLCHarris and Jones 2009
Implementation
Innovation
Impact
All staff should be kept informed of the PLC priorities, activities and progress to ensure the success of the whole school Learning Community
+ Phase 6 of a PLCHarris and Jones 2009
Implementation
Innovation
Impact
•New strategies are practiced and embedded
•Assess the impact on student learning
+ Phases of a PLCHarris and Jones 2009
Implementation
Innovation
ImpactPLC team reports findings and makesrecommendations
PLC team shares outcomes with other educators within, between and across schools
+Collaborative Discussion
What are the possibilities and potential for PLCs in Special Education?
+Pitfalls
Professional Learning Communities
+How?
What do PLCs do?
Where do you start?
Who ‘owns’ the PLC?
What is a good focus of enquiry?
How do you measure impact?
Can you involve students?
+ Approaches to Collaborative Enquiry might include
Learning Walks
Lesson Study
Peer Observation
Instructional Rounds
Peer Triads
Coaching and Mentoring
NB These are
NOT PLCs in
themselves!
+A PLC or not a PLC?
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Persistence
Professional Learning Communities
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Leading Professional Learning Communities: from Implementation to Impact Jones, M., forthcoming
Scrutinize Student Data
Define Learning issues
Focus the Inquiry to address the issues
Agree Success Criteria & Learning Outcomes
Sustaining PLCs
New Pedagogies:New practices trialled & refined
New Collaborative Strategies:Build Teacher & Team Efficacy
Emphasis on Outcomes evidenced via the‘Learning Lens’
Measurable Changes:
Student Learning Outcomes
Professional Learning
Organizational Policy & Practices
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
+Q and A
+Contact Us
@MichelleSJones1
@AlmaHarris1