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The Professional Learning Communities at Work model shares the
same characteristics as outlined in Professional
Learning Communities
at Work: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement (DuFour &
Eaker, 1998):
1)
Shared mission, vision, and values
2) Collective inquiry
3) Collaborative teams
4) Action orientation and experimentation
5) Continuous improvement
6) Results orientation
4
While successful PLCs focus on achieving these characteristics,
they
also continually ask the three corollary questions of a PLC (DuFour,
Eaker, & DuFour, 2002):
1) What
do we want students to learn?
2) How will we know if they have learned it?
3) What are we going to do if they have
not learned it?
PLC concepts are further supported by research on effective business
practices as outlined
in Creating the New American School, by DuFour
and Eaker (1992, pp. 5-8). The authors state that “schools have
found
success when applying the framework for a systematic approach to
school improvement.”
In Schools
That Learn (2000), Peter Senge recognizes the importance
of learning communities within schools. He describes schools
as “a
meeting ground for learning—dedicated to the idea that all those
involved with it, individually
and together, will be continually
enhancing and expanding their awareness and capabilities” (p. 6).
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Professional Learning Communities
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