The Repercussions on School Organization of the School Working as a Professional Learning Community

Author(s):

Martine Leclerc(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

01. Continuing Professional Development: Learning for Individuals, Leaders, and Organisations

Format:

Paper

Session Information

01 SES 05 A, Professional Learning

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-03

11:00-12:30

Room:

B032 Anfiteatro

Chair:

Heinz Guenter Holtappels

Contribution

1. Introduction

A recent report from the OECD (2012) stated the significant importance of improving equity and reducing school failure. Thus, it mentions social justice as being a concept paramount to establish in schools in order to fight the social inequalities. This objective aims at making sure that all students are treated in an equitable way and that their varied needs are met in order to ensure that their learning progresses.

In an effort to lead more students to succeed and to improve equity, certain schools redefined their method of functioning and rebuilt their culture to become organizations in which the members constantly learn, all the while questioning themselves in order to improve their teaching practices. This is in line with researchers who affirm that professional learning communities (PLC) have a positive influence in improving student learning (Harris, 2006; Hopkins & Reynolds, 2001; Hord & Sommers, 2008). The purpose of the PLC is to go beyond improving teachers' well being and professionalism, but to also exert a positive change for students and a significant impact on their success (DuFour & Eaker, 2004; Louis, 2006). It is also pertinent to determine how teachers progress while implementing PLC`s and how this affects school organisation. Our research question is formulated as follows: What kind of repercussions does this type of functioning have on school organization?

2. Professional Learning Communities

Even if a school constitutes a very pleasant community for the teachers and a place where all the students feel valued, it must ensure a certain pedagogical rigour so that each student can develop their full potential (Hord & Sommers, 2008; Leclerc & Moreau, 2011b; Schussler, 2003). Gathering a group of teachers to discuss pedagogical practices isn't sufficient to create a PLC. In schools that have taken on this type of functioning, teachers collectively pursue common goals to improve student success and assume a shared responsibility regarding targeted results (Eaker, DuFour & DuFour, 2004; Fullan, 2005; Hord, 1997, Leclerc, 2011 b; Schussler, 2003). In comparison to a more traditional school in which teachers perceive their classroom as their personal domain, the PLC ends isolation because of a structure that solicits collaboration and the willingness of all the interveners to focus on student success (DuFour, 2011).

In a PLC, there is a community, a group of individuals with common interests and shared values and in which there is an interdependence between individuals focusing on students' success. The teachers wish to continuously develop professionally and are eager to share their knowledge. There is presence of a learning project in which a priority field is targeted and where the improvement of the students lies at the heart of the questioning

(Dufour & Eaker, 2004; Roy & Hord, 2006). There is also a mutual involvement of all interveners towards the vision and the values chosen by the school where the success of the students is a priority.

Working in professional learning communities implies the development of competencies in teachers by favoring the exchange of experiences among colleagues. Each member of the team develops professionally by leaning on each other’s expertise, which thus creates a solid culture of sharing and continuing training (Hord & Sommers, 2008). The word ''learning'' between the words ''community" and ''professional" refers to the continued improvement of learning, not limited to teachers, but more so of students (Stoll, Bolam, McMahon, Wallace & Tomas, 2006) through the constant progression of pedagogical practices.

Method

To establish the predominant characteristics of a PLC functioning at a high level (Leclerc, 2012a) as well as the changes that occurred in the members, the challenges that had to be surmounted and the repercussions this method of functioning has on the organisation of the school, our research program firstly took place in an elementary school of Ontario (Leclerc et Leclerc-Morin, 2007). Then, to have a broader idea of how a PLC operates, five elementary schools from the south-west of Ontario, eight elementary schools from the south-centre of Ontario and one school from Quebec were investigated, which allowed us to better grasp the conditions necessary to implement a PLC (Leclerc et Moreau, 2011a et b), the role assumed by the school principal (Leclerc, 2011a ; Leclerc, 2012b), the changes that occurred in teachers and the repercussions this type of functioning has on students (Leclerc, Moreau et Clément, 2011 ; Leclerc, Moreau et Lépine, 2009). Our research focussed next on school principals and teachers working in general adult education, and then in the sector of school adaptation at a secondary level and in an elementary school in a low socio-economic level in Quebec as well as in a school in New Brunswick. These establishments grasped our attention because of their willingness to progress as a PLC and the conviction demonstrated by the principal regarding the effectiveness of this type of functioning. All of these schools had chosen learning to read as their targeted priority. In conclusion, during the eight years of this study, which took place from 2005 to 2013, 233 participants were involved, consisting of 21 school principals and 212 teachers. Crossed analysis of the results of the 19 school teams in three teaching levels (primary, secondary and general adult training) of three Ontario provinces (Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick) enabled us to discern the changes that occurred, the challenges that must be surmounted as well as the impact that working as a PLC has on school organization. In total, 39 group interviews and 185 semi-directed individual interviews constitute the main tools for data collection. Furthermore, observations in the field of teaching and a document analysis were conducted to better gain knowledge on the experiences that took place in each of these environments. Because of the limited time, this presentation will only focus on the results concerning the impact working as a PLC has on school organization.

Expected Outcomes

The PLC affects the organization of the work in schools on seven dimensions : 1) ideological (vision, values, priorities), 2) structural (physical and human conditions), 3) affective (culture focussing on collaboration), 4) organizational (changes in roles and shared responsibility), 5) cognitive (collective learning and diffusion of expertise), 6) pedagogical (resolution of problems linked to student learning and adjustment of classroom practices) and 7) reflective (taking decisions based on precise data). Furthermore, many questions emerged to favour the progression of a PLC based on each of these dimensions. For example, regarding the organizational dimension: how can the school principal’s leadership be better shared? How can teachers take on more responsibility? To what degree does the school principal play her or his role as a pedagogical leader to favour the improvement of student learning? How does the school principal and colleagues ensure support so that the school’s functioning progresses as a PLC? For the cognitive dimension: where will the expertise that are necessary to better respond to the specific needs of each student be found? How will we proceed to modify our practices? What resources will be necessary? Where will we find these? Which mechanisms of ongoing peer training will be implemented within the school? Also, four types of actions must be considered by the school principal: 1) countering isolation of teachers, 2) targeting student success, 3) implementing mechanism favouring teacher learning, and finally, 4) redeploying the leadership within the school by encouraging the emergence of leadership from teachers.

References

Eaker, R., DuFour, R. & DuFour, R. (2004). Premiers pas : Transformation culturelle de l’école en communauté d’apprentissage professionnelle. Bloomington, Indiana : National Education Service. Fullan, M. (2005). Leadership and sustainability: system thinkers in action. Thousand Oaks, California : Corwin Press. Harris, A. (2006). Opening up the black box of leadership practice: taking a distributed leadership perspective. International studies in educational administration, 34(2), 37-45. Hord, S. M. (1997). Professional learning communities : Communities of continuous inquiry and improvement. Austin, Texas : Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. Hord, S. M. & Sommers, W. (2008). Leading Professional Learning Communities: Voices from Research and Practice. Thousand Oaks, California : Corwin Press. Leclerc M. (2012a). Communauté d’apprentissage professionnelle : Guide à l’intention des leaders scolaires. Québec, Québec : Les Presses de l’Université du Québec. Leclerc, M. (2012b). Quelles stratégies les directions d’école efficaces utilisent-elles pour influencer le personnel enseignant et favoriser l’apprentissage des élèves. Revue Connexion-Direction, Association des directions et des directions adjointes franco-ontariennes, 12, 19-21. Leclerc, M. (2011a). Diriger une école en la centrant sur la communauté d’apprentissage. Revue inDirect : les clés de la gestion scolaire, 19(1), 32-56. Leclerc, M. (2011b). La communauté d’apprentissage professionnelle : on en parle, mais qu’est-ce que c’est au juste? Vivre le primaire, 24(2), 28-29. Leclerc, M. & Moreau, A. C. (2011a). Communauté d’apprentissage professionnelle dans huit écoles inclusives. Éducation et francophonie, 39(2), 189-206. Leclerc, M. & Moreau, A. C. (2011b). Quelques conditions incontournables pour implanter une communauté d’apprentissage professionnelle. Vivre le primaire, 24(2), 44-47. Leclerc, M, Moreau, A. C. & Lépine, M. (2009, July). Using Professional Learning Communities to Improve Student Learning in Reading: Better understanding the Stages of Development. Communication présentée à la Conférence européenne sur la lecture (ERA), Braga. Louis, K. S. (2006). Changing the culture of schools: professional community, organisational learning and trust, Journal of school leadership, 16, 477-489. OECD (2012). Quelle est l’ampleur des inégalités de revenus dans le monde et comment l’éducation peut-elle aider à les réduire ? Indicatieurs de l’éducation à la loupe. http://www.oecd.org/fr/edu/50242971.pdf Roy, P. & Hord, S. M. (2006). It’s everywhere, but what is it? Professional learning communities. Journal of school leadership, 16, 490-501. Schussler, D. L. (2003). Schools as Learning Communities : Unpacking the Concept. Journal of School Leadership, 13, 498-528. Stoll, L., Bolam, R., McMahon, A., Wallace, M. & Thomas, S. (2006) Professional learning communities : A review of the literature. Journal of Educational Change, 7, 221-258.

Author Information

Martine Leclerc (presenting / submitting)

Université du Québec en Outaouais

Éducation

Gatineau

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