Session Information
26 SES 01 A, Social Capital, Agency and Learning Communities
Paper Session
Contribution
Improving student learning is dependent on joint hard work of the entire school. It is how organise schools as places of learning and professional development of teachers. For this reason, promoting community relations and a sense of community in school´s work has become a clear line where it has direct improvement at international level (Bolam et al., 2005). As Harris y Jones (2012: 173) quote: “Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) can stimulate and spread innovation about learning and teaching practices, as well as to raise collective and individual professional performance. A Professional Learning Community is a group of connected and engaged professionals who are responsible for driving change and improvement within, between and across schools that will directly benefit learners”.
Teaching professionals who work together to create and maintain a culture of learning for all students, is a firm base to build and properly settle internal capacity of improvement (Huffman and Hipp, 2003), as it is hard to imagine that can be good learning students when there is no a favourable context for working better among teachers. We need a new school culture where teachers can work as equals, learn from each other and exchange educational practices that are effective (Louis, 2006). The PLCs are not closed inside of a school, because they establish networks between others schools and communities that make more sustainable improvement. PLC is not a plan or programme, we can see that as a famework for schools that allow them to provide structure to improve continuously through building the capacity of staff to learning and change, with a distributed leadership (Dufour et al., 2008).
Set up a school as a PLC provides opportunities for teachers to change the way of working, reflecting critically on your practice and sharing experiences to do a better job with students, taking collective responsibility for learning of students, in short, learn continuously from each others to improve their teaching practices. However, developing Professional Learning Communities in schools represents a change in the established school culture. As Escudero said (2009, p. 9) "The creation of communities of learning in educational organizations is not a easy commitment neither free of problems, because their budgets and implications are distant from regularities existing in majority of cases".
Schools in Spain, as attested International Reports (TALIS, 2009; PISA, 2012), have serious “social capital” deficits, particularly in secondary schools, an individualistic culture centered on the subject and in classroom. Therefore, under current conditions, there are serious obstacles and organizational development of schools as communities. However, the "professional capital" of each teacher in each school working together ("social capital") is the main asset to transform teaching (Hargreaves and Fullan, 2012). Therefore, there are enough reasons to hold that, in Spain, it is a working hypothesis founded (Escudero, 2011) to bring the schools as PLC, is one of the best devices to promote a sustained improvement over time, so to increase student learning. In this context, we need diagnostic tools as a starting point to take actions.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Beaton, D.E., Bombardier, C., Guillemin, F., Feraz, M.B. (2000). Guidelines for process of cross-cultural adaptation of self-report measures. Spine, 25(24), 3186-91. Bolam, R., McMahon, A., Stoll, L., Thomas, S. & Wallace, M. (dirs.) (2005). Creating and Sustaining Effective Professional Learning Communities. Bristol: University of Bristol y Departament of Education and Skills. Research Report nº 637. Bolívar Ruano, M. R. (2012). La Cultura de Aprendizaje de las Organizaciones Educativas. Instrumentos de Diagnóstico y Evaluación. REICE. Revista Iberoamericana sobre Calidad, Eficacia y Cambio en Educación, 10 (1), 143-162. Dufour, R.; Dufour, R. & Eaker, R. (2008). Revisiting professional learning communities at work. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree. Escudero, J.M. (2009). Comunidades docentes de aprendizaje, formación del profesorado y mejora de la educación. Ágora para la EF y el Deporte, 10, 7-31. Escudero, J.M. (2011). Los centros escolares como espacios de aprendizaje y desarrollo profesional de los docentes. En M.T. González (coord.), Innovaciones en el gobierno y la gestión de los centros escolares (pp. 117-142). Madrid: Síntesis. Hargreaves, A. (2007). Sustainable professional learning communities. En L. Stoll & K. Seashore Louis (Eds.), Professional learning communities: Divergence, depth and dilemmas (pp.181-195). Maidenhead Berkshire, England: Open University Press. Hargreaves, A.y Fullan, M. (2012). Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School. Nueva York: Teachers College Press. Harris, A. & Jones, M. (2010). Professional Learning Communities and System Improvement.Improving Schools, 13 (2), 172-181. Hipp, K.A., & Huffman, J.B. (2007). Using assessment tools as frames for dialogue to create and sustain professional learning communities. En L. Stoll & K. S. Louis (Eds.), Professional learning communities: Divergence, depth and dilemmas (pp. 119-131). New York: Open University. Hipp, K., & Huffman, J. (Eds.). (2010). Demystifying professional learning communities: School leadership at its best. Lanham, MD: Rowan & Littlefield. Hord, S. M. (1997). Professional learning communities: Communities of continuous inquiry and improvement. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. Huffman, J. y Hipp, K. (2003). Reculturing Schools as Professional Learning Communities. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. Louis, K. S. (2006). Changing the culture of schools: Professional community, organizational learning, and trust. Journal of School Leadership, 16(4), 477-489. Vinokurov, A.; Geller, D. y Martin, T.L. (2007). Translation as an Ecological Tool for Instrument Development. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 6 (2), 40-58.
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