It has been said that the best teachers are thieves. Star teachers are those who are constantly striving to find the best practices for their classrooms. Teachers can attain much knowledge from attending seminars, conferences, or attaining advanced degrees; but in most cases, there is a wealth of knowledge in the very building in which they teach.
Many administrators have caught on to the concept of Professional Learning Communities (PLC). Basically, a Professional Learning Community is a group of teachers who work together to share ideas and concepts, and to analyze data in relation to instruction. The goal is to discover new teaching strategies and to improve instruction.
Research has shown that schools that foster teacher collaboration and mentoring between novice and experienced teachers have lower turnover rates Kardos, S.M. & Johnson, S.M. (2007). Another study found positive relationships between schools that foster teacher collaboration and achievement scores in math and reading (Goddard, Y.L., Goddard, R.D., Tschannen-Moran, M. (2007).
Based on evidence from research, Professional Learning Communities have shown to improve instruction, improve achievement, and lower teacher turnover. With all this evidence, why don't more principals implement ways for teachers to share and collaborate on a regular basis? With that being said, I have compiled a list of suggestions that schools and school districts may follow in order to foster a Professional Learning Community.
- Common Planning
As a middle school principal, I have found that providing a common planning time based on subject area is a great way for teachers in the same subject area to work together and share ideas. This is especially helpful for new teachers to have additional resources other than his/her assigned mentor. It's also a good idea to assign a group leader who can facilitate the collaboration process and keep the group focused on the task at hand. Weekly meetings are beneficial for planning up-coming lessons, addressing concerns, sharing teaching strategies, and discussing student progress. It is important for group leaders to realize that collaboration doesn't mean that everyone will teach the same way; the purpose is to share ideas and keep everyone on pace. Teachers should be free to be creative and teach the curriculum as they see fit. As the principal, it is impossible for me to attend all meetings, but I do like to attend several each week. I communicate with my teachers and try to stay abreast of how things are going.
- Cross Curricular Sharing
Part of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) addresses the need for students to apply concepts across multiple disciplines. It is a great idea for Language Arts teachers to collaborate with teachers in other disciplines such as history or even science and discuss ways to intertwine multiple disciplines. The same goes for math and reading. It's a great idea for principals to encourage cross-curricular collaboration, but also a good idea for principals to dedicate one day per semester for this purpose.
- District Collaboration
No matter how large or small a district might be, it is always a great idea for leaders to accommodate teachers and give them time to collaborate with other teachers in the district or in other districts. I always like to find out who are the best teachers in a particular subject area and allow time for some of my teachers to travel and observe in the classroom. District leaders should also provide professional development days throughout the year when teachers from several schools can get together and discuss particular topics, analyze data, or share ideas and teaching strategies. Principals can also team-up with other principals and plan times for their teachers to get together.
The ideas listed above are effective ways that school leaders can utilize Professional Learning Communities in order to improve instruction and increase standardized test scores with minimal expense to the school or district, especially for districts with minimal funding for professional development. Over the years, I have seen tremendous improvement in the classroom by following these simple strategies. I've also noticed that teacher morale is always higher when they are given opportunities to collaborate with colleagues. The best teachers are those who enjoy what they do; I have a teacher who often says, "It's not work, if you love getting up every morning and coming to school." This is the attitude that we must all strive to have as educators if we truly wish to make a difference in our society!
References
Kardos, S.M., & Johnson, S.M. (2207). On their own and presumed expert: New teachers' experienced with colleagues. Teachers College record, 109(9), 2083-2106.
Goddard, Y.L., Goddard, R.D., Tschannen-Moran, M. (2007). A theoretical and empirical investigation of teacher collaboration for school improvement and student achievement in public elementary schools. Teacher College record, 109(4), 877-896.
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