You are in: Caribbean
Change location

You are here

Book > Professional Books > Professional Learning Communities

Disable VAT on Taiwan

Unfortunately, as of 1 January 2020 SAGE Ltd is no longer able to support sales of electronically supplied services to Taiwan customers that are not Taiwan VAT registered. We apologise for any inconvenience. For more information or to place a print-only order, please contact uk.customerservices@sagepub.co.uk.

Bringing Your Learning Community to Life
Share
Share

Bringing Your Learning Community to Life
A Road Map for Sustainable School Improvement

First Edition
Edited by:
February 2010 | 160 pages | Corwin
Download flyer

"This book is structured for the busy educator! The authors invite readers to journey toward professionalizing learning places. From the beginning of the journey (where ever you are) to the high points, low points, midpoint, and endpoints, the reader is transformed to the PLC way. A must-read for staff developers, instructional coaches, school improvement coordinators, and human relations specialists."
—Marian White-Hood, Director of Academics, SeeForever Foundation
Maya Angelou Public Charter School, Washington, DC

The do-it-yourself guide to creating and sustaining a professional learning community in your school or district!

How can you take the concept of a learning community from theory to the school building? This how-to guide walks you through the process of establishing a PLC step by step over a flexible timeline of nine to twelve months.

Leadership and organizational development specialists Stephen S. Kaagan and Linda Headley provide school and district leaders with a concrete road map and numerous tools for creating and sustaining a PLC focused on improving student learning. Readers will find everything they need to get a PLC up and running, including:

  • Specific tasks that help educators "learn by doing" as they create a PLC
  • Practice exercises for conducting productive meetings, building individual and group communication skills, and shaping the group's identity
  • Brief case studies of problems encountered by educators to spark discussion and support educators' growth as learners and leaders
  • Guidelines for appropriately pacing the chapters, tasks, and exercises with your faculty

Bringing Your Learning Community to Life is an invaluable manual for building capacity and creating an effective, sustainable PLC focused on continuous improvement.

 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
Preface
 
Section I. Laying the Foundation
 
1. Having Productive Discussions 101: Cultivating Individual Skills
Introduction

 
Ten Pillars of Productive Discussion

 
Interpreting the Pillars

 
Initial Self-Assessment

 
Practice Exercises 1-3

 
Conclusion

 
 
2. Having Productive Discussions 102: Cultivating Group Skills
Introduction

 
Practice Exercises 1-4

 
Self-Assessment Reprise

 
Future Use of the 10 Pillars

 
Conclusion

 
 
Section II. Putting Your New Skills to Work
 
3. Shaping a Group Identity
Introduction

 
Soul Searching via a Careful, Clean, and Crisp Culture Audit

 
Metaphor, the Path to the Future

 
Professional Learning Community Attributes

 
Ground Rules to Accompany the Attributes

 
Practice Makes Perfect

 
Conclusion

 
 
4. Small Moves Make a Big Difference
Introduction

 
Small and Different Moves Elaborated

 
Moving on the Small Moves

 
Putting It All Together

 
Conclusion

 
 
5. Sustaining Learning Community Growth
Introduction

 
Learning Strategies

 
The Power of Authentic Learning

 
Experiential Learning, a Complement to Authentic Learning

 
A Little Experience, a Lot of Learning Potential

 
Qualifying Experiences as Authentic

 
Making the Most of Experience for Learning

 
Outcome Narratives: Authentic Learning of Choice for Professional Learning Communities

 
Why Outcome Narratives Work

 
How Outcome Narratives are Developed and Used

 
Learning to Walk Before You Run

 
Conclusion

 
Additional Exemplary Outcome Narratives

 
 
Endnotes
 
Conclusion: Taking the Leap
 
Reproducible Resources
 
References

"This book is structured for the busy educator! The authors invite readers to journey toward professionalizing learning spaces. From the beginning of the journey (wherever you are) through the high points, low points, midpoint, and endpoint, the reader is converted to the PLC way. A must-read for staff developers, instructional coaches, school improvement coordinators, and human relations specialists."

Marian White-Hood, Director of Academics, See Forever Foundation
Maya Angelou Public Charter School, Washington, DC

“Excellent cases support and clarify each point, and the examples are very true to life and useful to the reader. The timeframes were also very true to life—change does not occur overnight, and the book clearly states this”

Ginnie Drouin, Principal
Alfred Elementary School, ME
Key features
  • Illustrates how to ensure that all staff development experiences are educationally authentic
  • Shows leaders how to engage staff in effective discussions, use a balanced approach for integrating discussion techniques with interactions that can have consequences for the school community
  • Provides a template for adapting and adopting principles of team leadership as a foundation for effecting staff collaboration—and makes these integral to all PLC efforts
  • Provides in-depth details about the small moves that principals and teachers can make as they undertake PLC work—including how to kick off meetings in ways that grab the attention of all participants, how to arrange meeting room furniture to encourage collaboration, and how to incorporate distributive leadership principles at every meeting
  • Shows how to use "Outcome Narratives" (brief cases connected to desired outcomes) as a staff development tool to spark conversation about hypothetical dilemmas, roles, and outcomes

Select a Purchasing Option

eBook
ISBN: 9781452271231
Paperback
ISBN: 9781412972970
$39.95