Learning together, leading together : changing schools through professional learning communities

Increasingly the education world is recognizing that the development of learning communities is an effective means for improving schools without increasing the budget or adding new programs. This indispensable volume offers practical advice gathered from 22 schools (elementary, middle, and high schools) that have successfully modeled or are creating professional learning communities. The right book at the right time, this authoritative volume:

Clearly defines the professional learning community--what it looks like and how it operates. Identifies the benefits that accrue to staff and students. Outlines the strategies required to launch, develop, and sustain a community of professional learners that will promote student learning. Examines the construction of learning communities, including the roles and perspectives of teachers, students, principals, superintendents, and community participants. Focuses on the important part the principal plays in spurring change by building trust with teachers and other staff.

Author Notes

Shirley M. Hord is Scholar Emerita at the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) in Austin, Texas.

Shirley M. HordShirley M. HordD'Ette Cowan and Grace L. Fleming and Tara Leo Thompson and Melanie S. MorrisseyGrace L. FlemingGrace L. Fleming and Tara Leo ThompsonMelanie S. Morrissey and D'Ette CowanD'Ette Cowan and Anita PankakeKristine Kiefer Hipp and Jane Bumpers HuffmanRichela Chapman and Dawn WatsonBrian RiedlingerDianne F. OlivierAnita PankakeGayle MollerMelissa Capers

Acknowledgments	p. vii
1. Introduction	p. 1
2. Professional Learning Communities: An Overview	p. 5
3. Study Description: Investigating Five PLC Schools	p. 15
4. Principals and Teachers as Continuous Learners	p. 20
5. The Role of Trust Building and Its Relation to Collective Responsibility	p. 31
6. Creating and Sustaining a Professional Learning Community: Actions and Perceptions of Principal Leadership	p. 45
7. Creating Co-Developers: Linking Research and Practice	p. 58
8. Two Professional Learning Communities: Tales from the Field	p. 71
9. Change Diaries: Parallel Perspectives on School Change	p. 84
10. One Principal's Story: Building a Community of Inquiry	p. 96
11. Against All Odds: Reculturing a Troubled School	p. 114
12. The Superintendent's Influence on the Creation of a Professional Learning Community: A Story of School Transition	p. 127
13. Building Teacher Leadership Within a Traditional School Structure	p. 140
Epilogue: Teaching and Shared Professional Practice--A History of Resistance; A Future Dependent on Its Embrace	p. 151
References	p. 163
About the Authors	p. 167
Index	p. 173

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Table of Contents