1st Edition
Teachers Leading Educational Reform The Power of Professional Learning Communities
Teachers Leading Educational Reform explores the ways in which teachers across the world are currently working together in professional learning communities (PLCs) to generate meaningful change and innovation in order to transform pedagogy and practice. By discussing how teachers can work collectively and collaboratively on the issues of learning and teaching that matter to them, it argues that through collective action and collaborative agency, teachers are leading educational reform.
By offering contemporary examples and perspectives on the practice, impact and sustainability of PLCs, this book takes a global, comparative view showing categorically that those educational systems that are performing well, and seek to perform well, are using PLCs as the infrastructure to support teacher-led improvement.
Split into three sections that look at the macro, meso and micro aspects of how far professional collaboration is building the capacity and capability for school and system improvement, this text asks the questions:
- Is the PLC work authentic?
- Is the PLC work being implemented at a superficial or deep level?
- Is there evidence of a positive impact on students/teachers at the school/district/system level?
- Is provision in place for sustaining the PLC work?
Teachers Leading Educational Reform illustrates how focused and purposeful professional collaboration is contributing to change and reform across the globe. It reinforces why teachers must be at the heart of the school reform processes as the drivers and architects of school transformation and change.
Introduction
SECTION 1 - TEACHERS LEADING EDUCATIONAL REFORM WITHIN AND ACROSS SYSTEMS
Introduction to Section 1
Chapter 1 - Taking the lead: Teachers leading educational reform through Collaborative Enquiry in Scotland
Christopher Chapman, Hannah Chestnutt, Niamh Friel, Stuart Hall and Kevin Lowden
Chapter 2 –Teachers Leading Reform Through Inquiry Learning Networks: A View from British Columbia
Linda Kaser & Judy Halbert
Chapter 3 - Teacher leadership within and across professional learning communities in England
Louise Stoll, Chris Brown, Karen Spence-Thomas and Carol Taylor
Chapter 4 Teacher-Led Professional Collaboration and Systemic Capacity Building: Developing Communities of Professional Learners in Ontario
Carol Campbell, Ann Lieberman and Anna Yashkina
Chapter 5 - Teacher Leaders in Professional Learning Communities in Singapore: Challenges and Opportunities
Salleh Hairon & Goh W.P. Jonathan
SECTION 2 – TEACHERS LEADING EDUCATIONAL REFORM WITHIN AND ACROSS DISTRICTS AND SCHOOLS
Introduction to Section 2
Chapter 6 - Teachers at the Forefront: A Comprehensive, Systematic Process for Creating and Sustaining a District-Wide Culture of Learning
Kristine Kiefer Hipp and Anthony E. Brazouski
Chapter 7 - From PLC Implementation to PLC Sustainability: The Pivotal Role of District Support
Dianne F. Olivier, Patrice B. Pujol, Steve V. Westbrook,
Jennifer G. Tuttleton
Chapter 8 - District Efforts to Support the Professional Learning Community Framework in Schools: Transformation of Learning
Jane B. Huffman, James K. Wilson, Mike Mattingly
Chapter 9 - Creating a network for teacher-led reform and pedagogical innovation in Taiwan
Peiying Chen,
SECTION 3 – TEACHERS LEADING EDUCATIONAL REFORM WITHIN AND ACROSS SCHOOLS
Introduction to Section 3
Chapter 10 - Developing adaptive expertise through professional learning communities in New Zealand
Helen Timperley, Fiona Ell, Deidre Le Fevre
Chapter 11 Professional Learning Communities in Chinese Senior Secondary Schools
Sally M. Thomas, Wen-Jung Peng and Pat Triggs
Chapter 12 - Decentralisation, localism and the role of Professional Learning Communities in supporting school collaborations in Wales
Mark Hadfield
Conclusion
Biography
Alma Harris is Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Malaya, Malaysia.
Michelle Jones is Assistant Professor of Education at the University of Bath, UK.
Jane B. Huffman is Emeritus Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of North Texas, USA.
‘Finally, a thought-provoking book from well-known and inspiring educators that substantiates the critical importance of teacher-led research and voice, through structured collaboration in PLCs, on "practice that works". A must-read for every teacher and leader looking for compelling evidence, from across the globe, that purposeful collaboration makes a difference to increasing all students’ achievement.’ - Dr. Lyn Sharratt, Practitioner, Author, Researcher, International Consultant at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada. @LynSharratt