A Professional Learning Community (PLC) is an alliance of teachers, students, parents and the administrators of a learning institution in order to discover ways to attain the most excellent practical results. The idea of PLC is to ensure that each member of the institution is actively involved in one way or another in the perusal of a common objective. It provides the opportunity chance to every individual to utilize his or her natural capacity in development.
This setup also creates an interactive environment for members of an institution thus developing a sense of belonging in to the community. This in turn moulds a positive attitude in learners as well as other members of the institution. Being result oriented, it concentrates all efforts to relevant actions, and therefore it improves efficiency in the overall performance.
PLCs operate in a set of rules referred to as guiding principles which when strictly adhered to, guarantees sustainable achievements of objectives. The first guiding principle is the focus on learning as the fundamental activity. This implies that the PLC must create a supportive environment for the students to learn. The teachers need to formulate special teaching skills so that students can learn and retain their acquired skills.
The second guiding principle is establishment of a culture of collaboration. The administration and the teachers can work together to achieve a common purpose – learning. In collaborations as opposed to solitude, people enjoy mutual benefits from the power of leverage owing to the fact that they easily share resources, ideas and challenges (Louis& Kruse, 1995).
The third Guiding principle is a focus on results. PLCs principally aim at maximizing students’ performance. One of the strategies they use is by diversifying teaching practices, change management, stress management and setting of targets. The teachers commit themselves to continuous improvement of the students’ results every year, in spite of any limitation (1995).
PLCs enable all its stakeholders pursue certain shared goals. For the best outcome to be obtained, the goals have to be specific, realistic and achievable. The goals are achieved through actions aimed at empowering the students in preparation for learning process. The first goal is to improve students’ learning process within a set program and share strategies to advance the students’ learning. To achieve this goal, DuFour (2003) suggests that researches are to be conducted on development of professional learning.
Another action includes periodical recognition and rewarding of teachers and students efforts based on results. This is entirely the responsibility of the various departments of school administrations, in which time limits are observed. The second goal is to provide training for teachers in the use of modern technology. To achieve this, schools set up electronic learning centers completely equipped with learning materials.
The benefits of PLCs are interconnected and not limited to the student’s perspective. Fogarty, R.J. & Pete, B.M. (2011) describe how every entity of a school benefits either directly. The first benefit is the sustainable collaborative relationship which consolidates the stakeholders’ efforts into achieving common objectives. Parents are also actively involved in conducting follow-ups on the students’ progress (2003), thus the burden is shared.
Secondly, PLCs not only saves time but also encourages sharing of resources within an institution therefore the operational cost is minimized. The third benefit is the alignment of leadership and decision making system to the core values, mission and vision of the learning institution. This ensures relevance of every action aimed at the realization of every goal. As the results are celebrated, the whole community develops a sense of belonging to the learning institution (2011).
Powers of PLCs in improving teaching and learning are laid on the foundation of the guiding principles: focus on learning, collaborative culture and focus on results. To begin with the focus on learning, the fundamental objective of teaching process becomes more structured with the assessment of feedback. The indicator for feedbacks is what is learnt rather than what is taught at the end of teaching, to eliminate wasted efforts in the teaching.
Collaborative culture is a joint effort strategy which utilizes the power of synergy in the learning and teaching. Consequently, weak students are able to develop a paradigm shift and rise to be at par with the rest. According to DuFour, the culture instills a sustainable sense of responsibility in all stakeholders rather than assign it entirely to the administrators.
The focus on results improves the learning and teaching process by motivating both teachers and students. Each student and teacher attaches the relevance of learning to the recognition of his results which encourages self discipline.
PLCs face the challenges of time management as a result of variations in individual orientations. This is especially true when dealing with adult learners as well as students with disabilities. The possible solution here perhaps is to set special sessions for remedial teachings and different standards of testing for such cases.
Another challenge with the PLCs is the result oriented focus. Learners emphasize more on passing examinations rather than learning concepts, thus ending up half-backed. The examination system needs to cover the daily participations rather than theoretical fabrications at the end of a learning period. Thirdly, the teamwork spirit renders some learners over reliant on others in the sense that they can not operate on their own. To solve this, there should be intervals within which individual assessment is conducted.
As I conclude, the guiding principles of Professional Learning Communities are essential building blocks for every institution. In spite of all the challenges there may be, this stands out to be the ideal system of learning.
Its sustainability is guaranteed and further propagated by the implementation of information technologies in learning systems. Nevertheless, it would be detrimental to the learning systems to over rely on PLCs. Instead, there is a dire need for diversification of techniques in the learning systems to safeguard education against uncertainties.
References
DuFour, R.P. (2003). Building a professional learning community. School Administrator, 60(5), 13-18.
Fogarty, R.J. & Pete, B.M. (2011) Supporting differentiated instruction: A professional learning communities approach. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
Louis, K.S. & Kruse, S.D. (1995). Professionalism and community: Perspectives on reforming urban schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.