Online Resource:
Topic of Module and Resource Connection to Module:
The topic of this module is the professional learning community's commitment to student learning and success. After reading the assigned pages in Dufour’s (2006) Learning by Doing, McRel’s (2003) “Sustaining School Improvement: Professional Learning Community,” and Doolittle, Sudeck, and Rattigan’s (2008) “Creating Professional Learning Communities: The Work of Professional Development Schools,” it is clear that all texts prioritize proper organization, creation, and consistency of professional learning communities that center on the needs of students. By working in a learning community, Doolittle, Sudeck, and Rattigan (2008) believe that educators will “see learners from a developmental perspective because they recognize that everyone can learn, but at different rates and under different conditions” (p. 305). If created and maintained effectively, educators can make a difference in all learners’ lives, which should always be their main focus.
In order to enhance student learning, professional learning communities need to be created and maintained correctly. Doolittle, Sudeck, and Rattigan (2008) emphasize that a common vision is needed by a district, school, or community in order to make progress in the classroom. Like the assigned texts for this module, Doolittle, Sudeck, and Rattigan (2008) explain that this shared vision is difficult to maintain due to the already rigorous demands put on administrators and teachers. In order to see a transformation in students, the emphasis on professional learning communities needs to increase, and educators need to be given the time to work with one another in positive, collaborative environment.
This collective environment needs to be supported by the administration, district, and community. Doolittle, Sudeck, and Rattigan (2008) believe that when a learning community has been developed through an effective professional development school relationship, educational change can be effectively undertaken” (p. 305). Educators’ commitment to student learning should be a school’s main focus, and the proper implementation of professional learning communities will allow educators to make a difference in their students’ lives.
References:
Doolittle, G., Sudeck, M., & Rattigan, P. (2008). Creating Professional Learning Communities:
The Work of Professional Development Schools. Theory Into Practice, 47(4), 303-310.
DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., Many, T. (2010). Learning by doing: A handbook for
professional learning communities at work (2nd ed., pp. 59-154). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL).(2003). Sustaining school
improvement: Professional learning community, 1–4. Retrieved from http://www.mcrel.org/PDF/LeadershipOrganizationDevelopment/5031TG_proflrncommfolio.pdf
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