Creating Professional Learning Communities

1. Creating Professional Learning Communities Gwyn Edwards Associate ProfessorFaculty of Education, HKU

3. Biographical Details: London University, BSC (Geography) University of Wales (Cardiff), PGCE Mount Grace High School, Hinckley, Leicestershire Meopham School, Meopham, Kent London University, MA Curriculum Studies University of London, Goldsmith College The University of Hong Kong

4. The Challenge: The key to a successful curriculum reform is to develop a new culture of teaching and learning that can bring about real changes in school life. Education Commission (2000)

5. The Answer: The most promising strategy for sustained, substantive school improvement is developing the ability of school personnel to function as professional learning communities. Dufour and Easker (1998)

6. The Genesis: Preferred organizations [in the future] will be learning organizations …..It has been said that people who stop learning stop living. This is also true of organizations. Handy (1995)

7. The new problem of change …. is what would it takes to make the educational system a learning organization - expert at dealing with change as a normal part of its work, not just in relation to the latest policy, but as a way of life. Fullan (1993)

8. The Commission recommends that schools be restructured to become genuine learning organizations for both students and teachers; organizations that respect learning, honor teaching, and teach for understanding. Darling-Hammond (1996)

9. We have come to realize over the years that the development of a learning community of educators is itself a major cultural change that will spawn many others. Joyce and Showers (1995)

10. If schools want to enhance …. their capacity to boost student learning, they should work on building a professional community that is characterized by shared purpose, collaborative activity and collective responsibility. Newmann and Wehlage (1995)

11. The Characteristics: • Shared mission, vision and values • Collective inquiry • Collaborative teams • Action, orientation and experimentation • Continuous improvement DuFour and Eaker (1998) • Dispersed leadership

12. The Building Blocks: • Mission:Whydo we exist? • Vision:Whatdo we hope to become? • Values: How should we behave in order to make our shared vision a reality? • Goals:Whichsteps will we take first, and when?

13. The Choices: • incremental change v systematic change • peripheral change v core change • superficial change v substantive change • quick fix change v sustainable change • structural change v cultural change

14. The Obstacles and Dangers: • Fragmented Individualism • Balkanization (‘collaboration that divides’) • Contrived Collegiality (‘groupthink’) • Conflict Avoidance • False Prophets • Innovation Overload

15. With change forces abounding, it is easy to experience overload, fragmentation and incoherence. Policies get passed independent of each other, innovations are introduced before previous ones are adequately implemented, the sheer presence of problems and multiple unconnected solutions are overwhelming. Many schools and school systems make matters worse by indiscriminately taking on ever innovation that comes along - the ‘so called Christmas’ tree schools - so many innovations as decorations, superficially adorned. Fullan (1999)

16. Diolch yn fawr!