scholarly journals The role that distributed leadership plays in the implementation of professional learning communities

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nicholas Alan Goos
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Schools ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Multiple Case Study ◽  
Distributive Leadership ◽  
Multiple Case

The purpose of this study was to focus on distributing leadership activities of an elementary school through a diverse group of stakeholders in the implementation of a Professional Learning Community (PLC). This investigation was guided by the theory of distributive leadership (Gronn, 2002; Spillane, Halverson and Diamond, 2001) and the impact that this plays on school improvement initiatives. In this multiple case study, the researcher focused on the school improvement initiative known as professional learning communities (Dufour, Dufour, Eaker and Many, 2010; Fullan, 2006; Schmoker, 2004). The study sought to gather insight on the role of distributive leadership contributes to implementation of professional learning community. This multiple case study examined three Midwestern elementary schools identified as having successfully implemented professional learning communities. It explored responses from school principals as well as teachers from each building to gather insight on perceptions of school administrators and staff regarding leadership style. From the data, themes emerged indicating there are key components to successful leadership in implementation of the school improvement initiative. The implications of this inquiry for application in elementary schools directly influence school leader behaviors and actions to create certain elements within the organizational members. These items would include a value of collaboration time, a role in school leadership decisions as well as a narrow focus on discussion around student achievement. The findings in this study demonstrate that successful leaders create a collaborative culture, shares in leadership and decision-making practices and has a narrow focus on student learning. The use of distributive leadership ideals create the opportunities for successful implementation of professional learning communities.

scholarly journals What Role Does Distributed Leadership Play in Implementing Professional Learning Communities?

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. p177
Author(s):  
Nick Goos ◽  
Barbara N. Martin
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Collaborative Culture ◽  
Successful Leadership ◽  
Preparatory Programs ◽  
Multiple Case

This multiple case study examined three Midwestern elementary schools identified as having successfully implemented professional learning communities for many years. From the data, themes emerged indicating that there are key distributive components to successful leadership in implementation of the school improvement initiative. The findings in this study demonstrate that successful leaders create a collaborative culture, seek shared leadership and decision-making practices and have a narrow focus on student learning. Implications for principals and leadership preparatory programs are significant.

School culture and leadership of professional learning communities

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 682-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
School Culture ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Shared Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Policies And Procedures

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore supportive and shared leadership structures at schools as a function of school culture policies and procedures. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative study was conducted at three secondary schools in the Midwestern USA. Administrators and teachers were interviewed, professional learning communities observed and artifacts collected to explore school culture policies, procedures and leadership in the implementation of professional learning community practice. Findings – This study concludes that school leaders must provide supportive and shared leadership structures for teachers in order to ensure a positive school culture and effective professional learning communities that impact school improvement. Leaders in schools must work directly with teachers to create policies and procedures that provide teachers the leadership structure to directly impact school improvement through professional learning community collaborative efforts. Originality/value – This study builds on the school culture and professional learning communities literature by exploring existent policies and practices in schools as unique cases. Much of the literature calls for specific case studies to identify issues in the implementation of effective practice. This study is important to the community as specific cases that may inform educational leaders on mechanisms that may be leveraged to ensure successful implementation of policies and procedures outline in school culture and professional learning community literature.

scholarly journals Harbors of Hope: The Planning for School and Student Success Process

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonya Pancucci
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Effective Schools ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Practical Knowledge ◽  
Senior Consultant ◽  
School Improvement Planning

Hope, schools, professional learning communities,and school improvement planning – what links these words? According to Hulley and Dier (2005), hope is the key to achieving successful and effective schools through reculturing with professional learning communities as the vehicle for change in the school improvement process. Wayne Hulley, president of Canadian Effective Schools Incorporated and senior consultant for the Franklin Covey Company, has 35 years of experience in North America working in the area of school improvement. Co-author Linda Dier has extensive knowledge having worked for 30 years in education systems in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Currently, she is senior consultant with Canadian Effective Schools Inc. and administrator of the Canadian Effective Schools League. Together, Hulley and Dier have written a text for educators and administrators at the district, board, and school levels, combining research theory with the practical knowledge gained in their joint 70+ years’ experience in education to provide a comprehensive planning process for school improvement. This text presents a step-by- step process that notes the highs and lows or « implementation dips » of the school improvement cycle. The authors have utilized the learning community model of professional development as a vehicle to facilitate, guide, direct, and sustain change towards successful and effective schools.

Principal and teacher instructional leadership: a cultural shift

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 576-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam D. Ezzani
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Instructional Leadership ◽  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
School Leaders ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Cultural Shift ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper (case study) is to capture a novel school culture that values instructional leadership (school leaders and teachers) and serves students in ways that create a culturally responsive and socially just schooling environment. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative methodology was best suited for the collection and analysis of data with the hope that the study will assist practitioners in seeing the connective threads that bind school leaders, teachers, students and parents in an organizational cultural shift that is student focused. Interviews and observations of professional learning communities, meetings and classrooms were the types of data collected and analyzed. Findings The principal and assistant principal were professionally and ethically challenged with an all too familiar problem – 30 percent of their Latinx and economically disadvantaged students scored below proficient in reading comprehension. To address this opportunity gap, consideration was given to data-informed decision-making; professional learning communities; and distributed leadership for social justice. Findings suggested that problems of practice are solved when educators engage in a continuous culture of learning through authentic dialogue focused on student data with an eye on equity. Originality/value Although research demonstrates that school improvement works best when principals distribute leadership to teachers, principals tend to maintain the share of the responsibility. Examples of instructional leadership beyond the school principal are rare. This case study provides an example of how principals can build leadership capacity in teachers and develop them to be instructional leaders.

scholarly journals CREATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHER PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY: INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 493
Author(s):  
Justinas Monkevicius ◽  
Renaldas Čiužas
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Organisational Culture ◽  
Institutional Factors ◽  
Teacher Professional Learning ◽  
Organisational Structure ◽  
Teacher Professional

The article presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of institutional factors of creation and development of successful teacher professional learning communities. On the basis of the conducted theoretical analysis, institutional factors were systemised and divided into four groups:factors related to organisational culture, to processes, to organisational structure, and factors related to financial and material resources.The empirical research reveals the relevance of theoretically distinguished factors to the practical processes of creation and development of successful teacher professional learning communities. It also singles out new factors that have not been investigated by other scholars and highlights the encountered barriers.

scholarly journals A case study of two teacher learning communities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Free-Queen Bongiwe Zulu ◽  
Tabitha Grace Mukeredzi
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
South African ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Education And Development ◽  
Teacher Learning Communities

In the Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development, a South African policy, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the Department of Higher Education (DHET) call for the formation of professional learning communities and envisage support for teachers and access to enhanced professional development opportunities at the local level. However, the formation and operation of professional learning communities in a South African context is still unclear. In this article we use the concept of professional learning communities to examine the extent to which 2 teacher learning communities operate as professional learning communities. We used interviews, observations, survey questionnaires and document analysis to generate data. The findings of the study reveal that the 2 teacher learning communities were initiated by the DBE and not by teachers. However, the size of 1 teacher learning community and the nature of its functioning seemed to adhere to the characteristics of a professional learning community while the other did not. The findings indicate that professional learning communities that operate in developing contexts might be functional when all the stakeholders play a meaningful role in supporting professional learning communities.

scholarly journals Inspiring teaching: learning from exemplary practitioners

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Sammons ◽  
Ariel Mariah Lindorff ◽  
Lorena Ortega ◽  
Alison Kington
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the concept of ' inspiring teaching' based on case studies of exemplary practitioners in England to inform professional development and collaborative learning and support school improvement. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a mixed methods design involving multiple perspectives. Data sources included interviews with teachers, two systematic classroom observation schedules and qualitative field notes from classroom observations. Quantitative and qualitative findings were integrated to allow for triangulation and synthesis. Findings The ‘inspiring’ sample of teachers exhibited many strengths in terms of the characteristics of more effective teaching identified in previous literature. However, the integration and synthesis of evidence also reveals core features of inspiring practice and highlighted the strong emotional and reflective components that distinguish inspiring practice, including: positive relationships; good classroom/behaviour management; positive and supportive climate; formative feedback; high quality learning experiences; enjoyment, and high levels of student engagement and motivation. Research limitations/implications This small-scale study was based on a purposive sample of 17 teachers in England therefore results cannot necessarily be generalised to other contexts. Practical implications The research findings and approaches can be used to support teachers' professional development and provide resources to promote collaboration in developing professional learning communities. Originality/value The investigation provides new evidence on the characteristics, practices and views of inspiring teachers. The use of multiple perspectives and integration of findings provides new evidence to inform and support the development of professional learning communities.

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