FEATURE ARTICLE
Principles of Design Energize Learning Communities
Practical Tips Put The Emphasis on Learning
By Lois Brown Easton
August 2012
Vol. 33 No. 4
At School A, the professional learning community is engaged in implementing a mandated mathematics program. At School B, the professional learning communities are grade-level teams of teachers and classroom aides pursuing their own agendas for improvement according to school goals. At School C, mixed grade-level and subject-area professional learning communities meet during the school’s faculty meetings to discuss issues the principal and others have raised. Which is the true learning community? The groups at all three schools may be professional learning communities, but the extent to which they are professional learning communities may vary. Learning is more than just the middle word in professional learning communities. Learning is living, according to Peter Senge and associates: “Learning is at once deeply personal and inherently social; it
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References
Easton, L.B. (Ed.). (2008). Powerful designs for professional learning (2nd ed.). Oxford, OH: NSDC.
Easton, L.B. (2011). Professional learning communities by design: Putting the learning back into PLCs. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press & Learning Forward.
Garmston, R. & Wellman, B. (1999). The adaptive school: A sourcebook for developing collaborative groups. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.
Hall, G. & Hord, S. (2001). Implementing change: Patterns, principles, and potholes. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Hord, S. (2011). Introduction. In L.B. Easton, Professional learning communities by design: Putting the learning back into PLCs. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press & Learning Forward.
Pascale, R., Sternin, J., & Sternin, M. (2010). The power of positive deviance: How unlikely innovators solve the world’s toughest problems. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Press.
Senge, P., Cambron-McCabe, N., Lucas, T., Smith, B., Dutton, J., & Kleiner, A. (2000). Schools that learn: A Fifth Discipline fieldbook for educators, parents and everyone who cares about education. New York, NY: Doubleday Currency.
Sinek, S. (2009a). How great leaders inspire action. Available at www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html.
Sinek, S. (2009b). Start with why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action. New York, NY: Penguin.
Sparks, D. (2004, Winter). From hunger aid to school reform: Positive deviance approach seeks solutions that already exist. JSD, 25(1), 46-47.
Wheatley, M. & Kellner-Rogers, M. (1996). A simpler way. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Lois Easton works as a consultant, coach, and author and is a senior consultant with Learning Forward. Her work focuses on learning designs for adults and struggling students.
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