Verified Document

Education Reform And The Creation Of Learning Communities Article Review

¶ … 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 intervention 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…

Sources used in this document:
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 through objective instruments. For example, having teachers give the same types of formative assessments enables them to compare what techniques enhanced student retention and which did not (DuFour 2004: 3). Instead of just presenting teachers with state curriculum standards, schools must try to answer the question 'how will we know when each student has learned' (DuFour 2004: 4).

Not all teachers, it should be noted, would necessarily embrace such an approach -- this type of data-driven method of evaluation could force some teachers to have to change their methods, based upon such measurements. This objection might also directly link with the third big idea behind professional learning communities: being results-oriented in a statistical fashion. The 'results-oriented' concept taps into many of the notions behind quality improvement in private enterprise, namely setting specific metrics for student achievement such as decreasing the rate of failures by a specific percentage and increasing the rates by which students pass state exams. This is contrasted with making vague 'goals' such as instituting a great books program or setting objectives in relation to educators, administrators, and program externals. Instead, it is important to ensure that initiatives translate in student success.

Professional learning communities and the growing professionalism of education may not be welcome to all. The article states quite bluntly teachers "must stop assessing their own effectiveness based upon how busy they are" and they must confront "brutal facts" (DuFour 2004: 6). Students likewise may not necessarily enjoy being forced to seek outside assistance when they do not wish to do so. The development of such 'learning communities' means a certain degree of conformity, despite the upbeat tone of the article and this may be welcome to some but not to all.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Creating Thriving Learning Communities for
Words: 1651 Length: 5 Document Type: Research Paper

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

Community Colleges in North Carolina
Words: 3751 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

(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

Education Throughout the World There
Words: 5288 Length: 20 Document Type: Term Paper

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

Community Resources and Education When
Words: 2749 Length: 7 Document Type: Essay

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

Learning Styles As Identified by Kolb That Promote Academic Success...
Words: 7960 Length: 30 Document Type: Term Paper

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

Learning Hands-On Science Learning Has
Words: 2217 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

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

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now