Professional Learning Communities: What Are They And Why Are They Important?
Summary of Attributes
Reports in the literature are quite clear about what successful professional learning communities look like and act like. The requirements necessary for such organizational arrangements include:
- the collegial and facilitative participation of the principal, who shares leadership - and thus, power and authority - through inviting staff input in decision making
- a shared vision that is developed from staff's unswerving commitment to students' learning and that is consistently articulated and referenced for the staff's work
- collective learning among staff and application of that learning to solutions that address students' needs
- the visitation and review of each teacher's classroom behavior by peers as a feedback and assistance activity to support individual and community improvement and
- physical conditions and human capacities that support such an operation
Next page: Outcomes of Professional Learning Communities for Staff and Students