GSS as a Professional Learning Community

What do we already know about PLC’s?

What does the research say?  In groups of 3 choose one piece of research and be ready to share the key ideas.

What are the skills needed for PLC’s? Conversational skills (dialogue/discussion)  Listening  Setting aside judgment  Questioning  Observations  Staying open  What is the goal?

Embedding reflective practice in our daily work Research tells us that reflection improves instruction and student achievement Reflection on Action  How did the lesson go?  Did you get the results you were hoping for? Why or Why not?  What might you do differently next time? Reflection for Action  Reflecting forward, planning how to find ways to teach better. This is a major component of PLC’s as it helps us to develop goals, procedures and ways to measure success. Reflection in Action  In the moment –This isn’t working and I don’t have a plan B. Improvisations skills. Reflecting within

Trust When trust exists, organisations think more creatively, take more risks, and share information more readily Peer Feedback This ensures the knowledge not only increases but the skills and knowledge will be transferred. Ability to address the knowing/doing gap.

PLC PMI Positive BenefitsChallengesThings to think about

Complete a Y chart Where are we achieving? What does it look like, feel like, sound like in our school? Y

The Essential Elements of a PLC are: 1. A PLC is a collaborative venture. 2. A PLC is always focused on student learning. 3. A PLC distributes leadership responsibilities. 4. A PLC narrows the curriculum to its essence. 5. A PLC shares best practices as a means of improving instruction. 6. A PLC uses “assessment for learning” in addition to the usual “assessment of learning.”

1. None of us know what all of us know! what all of us know!

2. A PLC is always focused on student learning. Each of the DuFour books identifies the same three questions as critical to the PLC work.  Exactly what is it that we want all students to learn?  How will we know when each has acquired the essential knowledge and skills?  What happens in our school when students do not learn?

4. A PLC narrows the curriculum to its essence. “In a professional learning community, time is viewed as a precious resource, so attempts are made to focus our efforts on less, but more meaningful content. The time that is saved allows the teaching of more meaningful content at a greater depth.”

6. A PLC uses “assessment for learning” in addition to the usual “assessment of learning.” Research reveals that significant improvement occurs in student learning when the following classroom assessment practices are in place.  Sharing clear and appropriate learning targets with students from the beginning of learning.  Increasing the accuracy of classroom assessments of the stated targets  Making sure that students have continuous access to descriptive feedback  Involving students continuously in classroom assessments, record keeping, and communication processes. Rick Stiggins as quoted in On Common Ground, page 67

Solution Tree: Rebecca DuFour PLC Keynote

Teacher inquiry  Exactly what is it that we want all students to learn?  How will we know when each has acquired the essential knowledge and skills?  What happens in our school when students do not learn?

Teacher knowledge building and inquiry cycle

An Example from TKI  The teachers in QTR&D wanted to improve their teaching by becoming more culturally responsive to their Māori and Pasifika students. In each hub, the teachers began by reading, thinking, and talking about the concepts of “diversity”, “culture”, and “cultural responsiveness”. They then moved to considering what was known about effective pedagogy in their particular learning areas and how that related to cultural responsiveness.  The teachers in each hub then discussed what the ideas they had explored might mean for their practice. They reflected upon and clarified their inquiry questions, ensuring that their students’ learning was connected to their own learning. Then each teacher tried a new strategy that they believed to be consistent with a more culturally responsive pedagogy.  If they hadn’t already done so, the teachers set up processes for capturing evidence about the impact of their teaching on their target students, for example, through assessment procedures, interviews with the students, samples of students’ work, video recordings, and observations of themselves and their students.  The key question for the learning inquiry is: What happened as a result of the teaching, and what are the implications for future teaching?  Two related questions then lead the inquiring teacher back into another round of inquiry: Is there something I need to change? What are the next steps for learning?