Collaboration has become a major focus in schools across the country. Administrators are coming to realize that 2 or 3 heads are better than one. Asking for help or advice is no longer viewed as a sign of weakness. Teachers can utilize Communities of Practice (CoPs) and Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to connect with and learn from fellow educators to improve instruction.
CoPs are groups of people who come together, whether in person or virtually, to share ideas and engage in discussion in hopes of developing a better understanding or proficiency with that topic (Gunawardena, et al., 2009). Likewise, PLCs help to unite a group of people to collaborate toward achieving a common goal; however, PLCs are generally restricted to the K-12 educational population in an effort to establish best practices and help all students experience success.
The main benefit of both CoPs and PLCs is that professionals, teachers or otherwise, no longer have to face the challenges of their job alone. We can collaborate to solve problems or see a problem from an alternative viewpoint. Each member of the team will, presumably, bring a different area of strength or expertise to the table. Thus the team is stronger as a whole. (Adams, 2009). For example, my current grade level teammate is a brand new teacher, whereas I have been teaching kindergarten for 6 years (not a tremendous amount of time, I realize, but enough to be the “veteran” of the K teachers in my district). Over the last year I have been able to offer insights gained from my experience and background information about the progression of our curriculum as we moved from half-day to full-day K. She has been able to contribute new ideas based on the most up-to-date research that she encountered in her studies. Through the work of our PLC we have been able to support each other and improve both of our instructional practice through our combined areas of “expertise”. This article from EduTopia features some advice on How to Create a Professional Learning Community.
PLCs are also a valuable tool for new teachers (Adams, 2009). Understanding and internalizing curriculum and standards can be an overwhelming task for a new teacher. In my first year, I knew the end-of-year goals for my students, but struggled to understand the pace of the progression at which students should move toward those goals. I constantly questioned if my students were behind or on track. Weekly PLCs afforded me the opportunity to share work samples with my grade-level colleagues and get feedback about the progress that my students were making.
Technological developments have the potential to greatly enhance PLCs. On a basic level, tablets can support PLCs in documenting the weekly discussions through the use of note-taking apps, dictation apps, photos of work samples, etc. This past year, my team and I each used our iPads to record one of our Shared Reading lessons, then review them together at our next PLC meeting. Technology, such as Skype, Face Time, and Google Hangouts, can enable teachers to engage in PLCs from any location. This could be beneficial for teachers in specialized areas. For example, the P.E. teacher at my school is the only one in our building. Through Skype she could “meet” with the other P.E. teachers in the district and engage in discussion. On a broader level, social media allows educators to connect with one another and form CoPs on a national, and even global, level. Thanks to the power of Web 2.0 tools, like wikis, blogs, and social bookmarking sites, educators can connect and collaborate in more ways than ever (Gunawardena, et al.,2009).
When you think about the theory behind PLCs and CoPs, it is hard to ignore the connection between these tools and Vygotsky’s theory of social development. There is great potential to learn through social interaction. I am currently developing a learning activity for my fellow K – 1 teachers. The objective of this learning activity is to help them develop strategies for implementing iPads in their classrooms and utilizing them to the fullest. As I work on developing this activity, it will be important to build in time for teachers to break off into their grade level teams and discuss what they have learned, ways to apply it and potential challenges that they will face.
Cranston’s article, Relational Trust: The Glue That Binds a Professional Learning Community, highlights one of the greatest challenges of a PLC (2011). In a perfect world, all members of a PLC would come to the table with an open mind and a true interest in what is best for the students and the group at large. In reality, it can be difficult to get all members on the same page and establish a degree of trust. “Risk-taking without a precondition of trust would appear to be unlikely,” (p. 65). I have been a member of a supportive PLC in which a high degree of trust existed, and a PLC in which I felt little trust in a teammate, who often took credit for the work of others and did not pull her weight. With the latter situation, I felt that the work of the PLC suffered because I, along with other members, often felt guarded in terms of what we shared with the group.
The question remains, if there is a lack of trust among the members of a PLC, what can be done to repair it? Can a teacher bring a lack of trust to an administrator’s attention in a professional way? Is there anything that an administrator can do to enhance the level of trust among the members of a PLC?
Building Blocks of Learning 