Learning Communities Within Schools
Edwards [2012: 25] argues that:
'Increasingly school change processes are being facilitated through the formation and operation of groups of teachers working together for improved student outcomes. These groupings are variously referred to as networks, networked learning communities, communities of practice, professional learning communities, learning circles or clusters.'
These can be significant vehicles for change, not only for the staff involved but for their schools. Indeed, while the term professional learning community can, as Edwards shows, refer to a small group within a school, it can also be applied to the school itself or indeed to collaborative work across schools and with other institutions. Stoll [2011: 105], in order to differentiate between small groups within a school wide professional learning community refers to 'teacher learning communities [William, 2007]'.
In essence, a small learning community within a school is a group of staff who come together to mutually investigate the practice of teaching in order to become better at what they do and thereby impact positively on the learning of pupils. There are lessons from the literature on professional learning communities, however defined, for both the effective development of small communities of practice and the effective interaction of senior and middle leaders in support of them. For instance, Harris and Jones [2010: 177], in describing 6 school professional learning communities in Wales, state that:
'Within such communities, practice is developed and refined through the collaboration of ‘groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise by interacting on an ongoing basis (Wenger, 2002:4).'
Small communities of practice provide a very effective vehicle for change and improvement, cutting across existing boundaries and hierarchies and offering those involved rich opportunities to learn in a community of shared interests and aspirations. As Harris and Jones [2010: 177] say:
'In communities of practice, learning is viewed as a social activity that occurs as new collaborations form and the group moves collectively toward greater expertise (Lave,1991). New members of the group gain access to the community’s professional knowledge in authentic contexts through encounters with people, tools, tasks and social norms. New professional behaviours are adopted by the community of practice through the evolution of practice over time.Thus, the collaborative group can help professionals gain access to ideas, methods, content,and experiences that can shift and refine practice (Argyris,1992].'
Here members investigate the practice of teaching in order to deepen their understanding and develop new thinking and expertise around classroom practice. Through open discussion, investigation and discovery group members develop both individual learning and, as importantly, group learning. This is about professional learning with and from colleagues but is also much more than this. The interactions and synergies that take place around issues and problems of practice create new insights and understandings for the group. Louise Stoll [2011:104], when talking about the concept of a school professional learning community, says that this:
'… involves working together to develop shared meaning of concepts and practices. It is not just learning together: it is a joint process of generating new and common understandings and creating knowledge of value and use to all involved.'
This enquiry-orientated process sees participants questioning what they are currently doing, exploring and experimenting with different and new ideas and learning from the ensuing discussions. Processes common to the practice of learning communities within a school include:
- group discussions around an issue or problem of practice
- sharing of experiences of teaching; lesson observations by individuals or groups
- experimentation with new or different ways of doing things; exploring different ways to meet particular needs of identified pupils
- joint evaluation of data and research with a view to deepening learning and changing practice
- developing a new piece of work and learning together from the experience, good and bad, of implementing it
While school staff with different responsibilities and roles can be involved, hierarchies are subservient to the process as all are engaged in joint investigations around the practice of learning and teaching. Here colleagues commit to both their own learning and each other’s learning. Such authority as there is within the community is generated from enthusiasm, ideas and willingness to learn and share.
However, learning communities can sometimes require support and even direction, and Harris and Jones [2010] highlight the vital role formal leaders can play in this regard. The dilemma for school middle leaders is how to maximise the potential and benefits of learning communities while ensuring effective support with minimum control. Pedler, Burgoyne and Boydell [2004:245] point out that networks' '...self-organising nature constitutes a formidable challenge to the leadership skills of managers used to commanding and controlling.' And as Harris and Jones [2010:174] say, 'If too loosely configured, it is easy for professional learning communities to pay attention to everything else except learning and teaching.'
Leaders need to be alert to the needs of the community, how they can use their influence to support it and when and where to let go. This is particularly the case where the need for alignment around key learning and teaching goals is concerned. Moreover, Pedler, Burgoyne and Boydell [2004:253] state that networks can have a dark side where'…they can operate as cliques or gangs with negative consequences for others.' Leaders need to be fine-tuned to this and exercise a balancing act between the need for a learning community to be self-organising and self-directed while maintaining the need for diversity of membership and opinions.
Nevertheless, small learning communities within schools can be very powerful mechanisms in terms of supporting the professional learning of colleagues. At a very basic level, participants in a learning community within a school simply learn from each other and this can lead to improvements in teaching, with benefits for pupil learning. At their best, the collaborative interactions within a learning community can involve colleagues in a deeply reflective process, thinking deeply on the practice of learning and teaching and creating new and different ways of doing things. As David Hargreaves [2011, p.344] suggests, this is about teachers working:
'…in thoughtful, evidence-informed communities that value both the hard data and soft judgement, applied to deep and compelling questions of professional practice and innovation.'
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Sources used for this page
- Hargreaves, D. [2011] Twenty-first century skills are on Mercury: Learning, life and school reform. In Sefton-Green, J., Thomson, P., Jones, K., Bresler, L. (eds) The Routledge International Handbook of Creative Learning. Routledge:London.
- Harris, A. and Jones, M. [2010] Professional learning communities and system improvement. Improving Schools 13 (2) (2010) pp.172-181.
- Pedler, M., Burgoyne, J. and Boydell, T. [2004] A Manager's Guide to Leadership. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Professional.
- Stoll, L. [2011] Leading professional learning communities. In J. Robertson and H. Timperley (eds) Leadership and Learning. London: Sage.