Professional Learning Communities

The school I am subbing in this week is working toward becoming a “Professional Learning Community” On the bulletin board was a list of questions to be considered:

1. What do we want students to learn?

2. How will we know when each student has learned it?

3. How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty learning?

Although these are good questions, they struck me as being teacher/curriculum centric. Personally, I prefer to view a school as a community of learners. Consequently, I would add the following questions:

1. What does each student want or need to learn?

2. How do we reconcile what we want the student to learn with what the student wants to learn?

3. What learning needs can we meet?

The additional questions move to a student centered model, which is more consistent with Senge’s (Fifth Discipline) view of a learning organization. Further, they imply that the role of the school and teachers is to facilitate learning rather than dictate what must be learned.

I am a proponent of looking at learning from a community perspective. This is outlined in my articles: A Community Perspective on Schooling at http://www.clubwebcanada.ca/l-pphillips/edarticles/perspective.htm and One Child -- Many Communities: Recasting the Purpose of Education at http://www.clubwebcanada.ca/l-pphillips/edarticles/onechild.htm
- posted by Larry @ 8:00 p.m.