Based on your understanding of a learning community, literature and your experiences, reflect critically on your school/organization as to what extent it has the characteristics of a learning community. What do you think can turn a collection of people (head teacher, teacher, students and parents) into a learning community? What are its implications for school improvement?
Darvesh Karim
Assistant Instructor
Professional Development Center, North
University Road, Konodass, Gilgit.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
MY UNDERSTANDING OF A LEARNING COMMUNITY THROUGH LITERATURE, M.ED COURSE, AND MY EXPERIENCE.
CRITICAL REFLECTION ON MY SCHOOL/ORGANIZATION AS TO WHAT EXTENT IT HAS THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A LEARNING COMMUNITY.
WHAT DO I THINK CAN TURN A COLLECTION OF PEOPLE (HEAD TEACHER, TEACHER, STUDENTS AND PARENTS) INTO A LEARNING COMMUNITY? WHAT ARE THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT?
INTRODUCTION
Every where we go, we see different communities and communities within communities. This practice can observe all around us. These are commonly called a platform of mutual interests and concerns. These communities sometimes transform to learning communities and this is the new notion and struggle towards its formation. A community is formed both socially and individually. Through social processes each individual develops and shapes their identity i.e. who they are, what they can and cannot do, how they relate with other and so on. Learning communities can be developed according to the following diagram as communities are categorized by personal capacity, organizational capacity and interpersonal capacity.
WHAT IS LEARNING COMMUNITY?
According to my understanding through the class presentations, facilitators’ explanations, peers interaction and literature review, learning community is a group of people who share common values and beliefs and actively engaged in learning together from each other. This is based on an advanced kind of educational or 'pedagogical' design. The people who facilitate learning communities may contribute from several distinct fields of study. My understanding guides me that to create a learning community we have to focus on learning rather than teaching, work collaboratively and hold ourselves accountable for results and better outcomes. Keeping my context in mind particularly, I can claim that the learning communities exist (in their initial stages) in a way or other which will discussed bellow.
I believe that the most successful learning organizations of future will be the organizations where people continuously expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire and leaders’ have to think and work on this new dimension now.
Through literature review we can identify the guide lines for creating a learning community as Lovely, S. & Buffum, A.G. (2007) states that, “A major goal in the design of a learning community is facilitating a culture of collaboration within a setting that is complicated by the cross age diversity of most teams” (p.28). To facilitate this culture of collaboration we have to offer the opportunity for reforms. The major requirements to create learning communities are according to Retallick, J. Cocklin, B. & Coombe, K. (Eds.). (1999) are respect, caring, inclusiveness, trust, empowerment and commitment. These are the guide lines through which we can create learning community in schools.
INDICATORS OF LEARNING COMMUNITY
For an effective learning community in educational institutions according to my understanding following are the major indicators to identify the existence of learning community. I will discuss all these indicators according to my new understanding through M.Ed sessions and literature review and will be comparing the existing practices in my existing setup and will also try to elaborate the implications of these new approaches to strengthen the learning community in my context.
- A clear and Shared vision
- Supportive and Shared Practices
- Distributed Leadership
- Professional Development.
- Relations among School and Parents
- On-going assessment
A Clear and Shared Vision
The first and major component of a learning community is the existence of a clear and shared vision. Sharing vision is not just agreeing with a good idea; it is a particular mental image of what is important to an individual and to an organization. To create it, there should be a group of educators, supporting staff and parents. Staff should be encouraged not only to be involved in the process of developing a shared vision but to use that vision as a guideline in making decisions about teaching and learning in the school. In such a community, the individual staff member is responsible for his/her actions.
Existing State of my Context and Implication
As a community school, it has been established to improve the educational standards and to impart the quality education in the region and of-course it has a vision defined by some elders of the area. The school is governed by the selected community members, who are very much helpful for the smooth functioning of the institution but sometimes they create problems as well for development of a shared vision, as the selected individuals sometime not come from the educational backgrounds; hence an autocratic element comes in between the normal process, which disturbs the sharing, caring and collaborating factor, not only for the shared vision but for almost every practice of school.
For the implication of such a cleared and shared vision, the first hindrance, we have to work on, is to educate the community about the important role of their selected members and the importance of sharing and collaboration.
Supportive and Shared Practices
Several kinds of factors determine when, where, and how the staff can regularly come together as a unit to do the learning, decision making, problem solving, and creative work that characterize a professional learning community. If we will not take care of these factors many consequences can occur in the institution. Stewart, D. & Prebble, T. (1993) describes this situation as, “Relationships among staff groups are a consequence of the communication patterns and networks that exist in the organization” (p.94).
Review of a teacher's behavior by colleagues is the norm in the learning community. This practice is not evaluative but is part of the "peers helping peers" process for own understanding or to help each other. Such review is conducted regularly by teachers, who visit each other's classrooms to observe, and discuss their observations with the visited peer. Stewart, D. & Prebble, T. (1993). “Reflecting on our professional practice tends to be more profitable when a colleague is able to help us reflect on that practice and suggest alternatives” (p.45). This process use to be based on the desire for individual and community improvement and is enabled by the mutual respect and trustworthiness of staff members.
Existing State of my Context and Implication
I can proudly claim that we have the sense of non-evaluative assessments and positive feedback to each other and for the enhancement of this sense, two principals’ role and HERP’s[1] influence on us is very much revolutionary and I must admit it that we had a very experienced principal from Karachi and one from UK, they created such an atmosphere of respect and trustworthiness among staff, while HERP played a vital role to foster this sense among us through their workshops and trainings.
But I still state, that development never ends, and this exposure with IED, can also lead me to strengthen and reinforce further this important aspect of learning community among the institutions of the region as a whole.
Distributed Leadership
Distributed leadership starts from willingness to share authority, the capacity to facilitate the work of staff, and the ability to participate without dominating. Stewart, D. & Prebble, T. (1993) states that, “If principals wish to change what teachers do they must first change the way teachers think about what they do” (p.189).
Members of the Learning Community work together, share expertise, and exercise leadership to ensure that student achievement is the intended result of all decisions. They retain primary responsibility, appropriate autonomy, and are accountable for making decisions affecting the important aspects of the learning community.
It seems clear that transforming a school organization into a learning community can be done only with the sanction of the leaders and the active cultivation of the entire staff's development as a community. Thus, a look at the principal of a school whose staff is a learning community seems a good starting point for describing what these learning communities look like and how the principal accepts a collegial relationship with teachers to share leadership, power, and decision making. Stewart, D. & Prebble, T. (1993) describes this notion of leadership as, “Leaders make a difference, but their work should be seen as an integral part of the activities of the whole group” (p.199). Through this practice, all grow professionally and learn to view themselves to use an athletic metaphor as "all playing on the same team and working toward the same goal: a better school". This idea has very accurately articulated by Sergiovanni, T.J. (1996);
Communities are collections of individuals who are bonded together by natural will and who are together bond to a set of shared ideas and ideals. This bonding and binding is tight enough to transform them from a collection of “I’s” into a collective “we” (p.48).
Existing State of my Context and Implication
Professional development
Continuous professional learning is focused on improving practice and performance as a vehicle for school improvement and program coherence. This is accomplished through collaboration, reflection, the analysis of student work and data, and a review of pedagogy. Professional development is monitored and assessed regularly for effectiveness and implementation to ensure continuous school improvement.
Existing State of my Context and Implication
Relations among School and Parents
All members of the Learning Community are viewed as critical allies and are significantly included in the school community (i.e., students, teachers, support staff, parents, administrators and community partners). An ongoing partnership is aimed at supporting continuous improvement of student achievement. Authentic engagement leads to sustained participation in critical school decisions and implementation of school efforts. Parents involvement is a must for creating learning community, if not involved they may create problems for the school as Lovely, S. & Buffum, A.G. (2007) describes it as, “More parents are told they don’t have a say in something vitally important to them, the more pressure they will apply to be heard” (p.95).
Existing State of my Context and Implication
On-going assessment
Instruction is adapted based upon learning needs within an accurate culturally relevant and linguistically responsive curriculum; student performance is measured to report on progress and accomplishments and to inform future instructional practices. Multiple forms of standards-based assessments are used including some benchmarks by the community around. Additionally, school indicators are used as measures of school progress including, for example, attendance, dropout rates, number of high school graduates, etc.
Existing State of my Context and Implication
CONCLUSION
A paradigm shift is needed both by the public and by teachers themselves, about what the role of teacher involves. Many in the public and in the profession believe that the only genuine use of teachers' time is standing in front of the class, working directly with students. Bringing about changes in perspective that will enable the public and the profession to understand and value teachers' professional development will require focused and concerted effort. Teachers are the first learners. Through their participation in a professional learning community, teachers become more effective, and student outcomes increase - a goal upon which we can all agree.
REFERENCES
Harris, A. (2007). Distributed leadership: conceptual confusion and empirical reticence. International Journal of Leadership in Education. 10(3), 315-325
Lovely, S. & Buffum, A.G. (2007). Generations at School: Building an Age-Friendly Learning Community. California: Crown Press.
Retallick, J. Cocklin, B. & Coombe, K. (Eds.). (1999). Learning Communities in Education: Issues, strategies and contexts. London: Routledge.
Sergiovanni, T.J. (1996). Leadership for the Schoolhouse: How Is It Different? Why Is It Important? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Stewart, D. & Prebble, T. (1993). The Reflective Principal: School Development Within a Learning Community. New Zealand: ERDC Press Massey University.
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