¶ … Professional Learning Community"?
Professional learning communities: Article review
DuFour, R. What is a 'professional learning community?' Educational Leadership, 2004.
A popular idea in the field of education today is the need to develop a 'professional learning community' of educators to facilitate the goals of the institution. One of the 'big ideas' of a professional learning community is the responsibility for educators to come together and to determine how students really learn and how to achieve set learning objectives. For example, if a teacher is struggling with providing differentiated instruction to a diverse community of learners, the school can offer her additional support and resources to bolster the when they experience challenges. Rather than waiting for the student to make the overture, there are procedures to ensure the student is required to seek extra help. Intervention rather than remediation is the aim (DuFour 2004: 2).
A second 'big idea' is the concept of collaboration -- quite simply, when teachers find that particular strategies work, they should share them with their fellow educators. This ensures that teachers are able to learn from one another and that positive techniques are disseminated through the school. However, the article notes that subjective impressions are not enough to validate that particular approaches work: these must be determined…
They may feel threatened by new ideas and fear that they will actually be changes for the worse instead of for the better, simply because they are unfamiliar. Another point is that people may have a vested interest in not accepting change. According to Kotter (1996) people like to feel that they are in control of what is happening to them; they want to be the ones steering their
(North Carolina Community College, system 2004, critical success factors) However, it must be mentioned that North Carolina is for the main part a public sector state, and it has a strong and a very well respected group of private Four-year colleges, and Community Colleges. While the four-year colleges in the state serve about 39% of all the undergraduates, the public Community Colleges serve about 43% of all students of the
Nearly all failing schools fit this description (Six Secrets of School Success 2000)." If a country is to overcome educational problems, they must take into account the mentality that poverty creates and how that mentality deteriorates the wherewithal to do well in school. Although poverty is the issue that affects most underachieving schools, the idea of the super head was conceived as the answer to poorly performing schools. According to
U.I.L.D.) program aimed to increase community involvement in children's lives as a way of increasing education. Watching the video describing B.U.I.L.D.'s programs, it was interesting to see that some of the community activists did not even seem concerned about education, specifically. For example, Rev. Charles Thomas began by talking about the conditions in a local park, how it has been abandoned by the city, and how people cannot expect teachers
growing recognition of the changing educational needs of college students, particularly those attending community colleges. In response to this awareness, reform efforts have been implemented in order to meet the needs of students. As reform efforts have been considered, increasing attention has been directed toward assessing the influence of learning styles on academic performance. The term 'learning styles' has been used to refer to the ways in which individuals
The natural environment provides students with a calm and quiet place to unwind from the noises of the classroom. It nurtures and supports animal-life all year round. This is critical for areas where commercial and residential development is reducing most natural areas. Wildlife especially needs help during the cold and snowy months. Students can also see how it benefits the environment. It also helps connect students to the world
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