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Adina Harris

Dr. Crosby

MUE 535

25 April 2017

Professional Learning Communities & Collaborative Learning Communities

The most important aspect of education is the children and their ability to learn. Much

reform has been done to find the best way to ensure that the schools and administration are

working diligently to create the best environment for the students that is conducive to their

learning. In the article, Best Practices for Professional Learning Communities writer, Celine

Provini, explains how professional learning communities help with student learning.

Provini starts the articles by explaining what a professional learning community (PLC) is.

A professional learning community involves more than a staff meeting. instead, a PLC

represents the institutionalization of a focus on continuous improvement in staff performance as

well as student learning (Provini, 2012). A PLC, when implemented correctly, can result in a

substantial increase in students education. Provini states that PLCs entail whole-staff

involvement in a process of intensive reflection upon instructional practices and desired student

benchmarks, as well as monitoring of outcomes to ensure success (Provini, 2012). By putting

emphasis on reflection, teachers are able to actively revise their lessons and activities used in

class to improve the ability of students to better learn the intended content. Not only do the

students benefit from this reflective process, but teachers also are awarded an opportunity to

learn from each other. Provini explains that teachers can learn from each other by sharing lesson
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plans and analyzing what does and doesnt work to enhance student achievement (Provini,

2012).

Provini also identifies the steps of the process included with PLCs. Provini explains that

there are six steps: study, select, plan, implement, analyze, and adjust (Provini, 2012). This

process starts with the teachers reviewing data about student achievement in order to assess what

objectives students are not meeting. The teachers then collaborate in planning teams in order to

find the best strategies to increase the students ability to meet the objectives. Teachers use these

strategies to develop and implement a lesson plan. This overall process takes three to six years to

fully integrate into a schools practice (Provini, 2012). During this process, teachers must work

together constantly to make sure that they brainstorm and recognize all of the possible student

results.

Provini then states that without paying attention to best practices, schools may fail to

reap the benefits of PLCs (Provini, 2012). Amongst these best practices, teachers and school

administration should promote collaboration within the school community. Teachers and

administrators should come effectively communicate in order to make sure that the intended

curriculum and standards are actually being met and taught to the students (Provini, 2012).

Schools should also make sure that teachers are taking advantage of the opportunity to

collaborate with each other, instead of clinging to the habit of isolating themselves. Provini also

mentions that coordination through technology should be considered to ensure that teachers are

able to facilitate and establish communication through online sources such as, Blackboard

(Provini, 2012).
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References

Provini, C. (2012). Best Practices for Professional Learning Communities. Education World