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Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000010129541 | LB1731 P75 2007 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
What is a professional learning community? What are the key challenges facing these communities and how might they be resolved? Is it time to extend our thinking about professional learning communities? There is great interest internationally in the potential of professional learning communities for enhancing educational reform efforts and sustaining improvement. This international collection expands perceptions and understanding of professional learning communities, as well as highlighting frequently neglected complexities and challenges. Drawing on research, each chapter offers a deeper understanding of topics such as distributed leadership, dialogue, organisational memory, trust, self-assessment and inquiry, and purpose linked to learning. The last section of the book focuses upon three of the most challenging dilemmas that face developing professional learning communities - developing professional learning communities in secondary school, building social capital, and sustaining professional learning communities. The authors provide pointers on why these challenges exist, offering rays of hope for ways forward.Professional Learning Communities is key international reading for education professionals, school practitioners, policymakers, academics and research students. It is a must-read for anyone interested in building capacity for sustainable learning and the ability to harness your community as a resource for change.
Author Notes
Louise Stoll is Past President of the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement and Visiting Professor at the London Centre for Leadership in Learning, Institute of Education, University of London and at the University of Bath
Karen Seashore Louis is Rodney S. Wallace, Professor in Educational Policy and Administration at the University of Minnesota
Table of Contents
| List of figures and tables | p. ix |
| List of contributors | p. xi |
| Series editors' preface | p. xvii |
| Acknowledgements | p. xxi |
| 1 Professional learning communities: elaborating new approaches | p. 1 |
| Part 1 Divergence | p. 15 |
| 2 The involvement of support staff in professional learning communities | p. 17 |
| 3 Extending the learning community: a broader perspective embedded in policy | p. 30 |
| 4 From professional learning community to networked learning community | p. 45 |
| 5 Beyond borders: can international networks deepen professional learning community? | p. 63 |
| Part 2 Depth | p. 77 |
| 6 'Normalizing' problems of practice: converting routine conversation into a resource for learning in professional communities | p. 79 |
| 7 How leaders use artifacts to structure professional community in schools | p. 93 |
| 8 Developing collective understanding over time: reflections on building professional community | p. 106 |
| 9 Using assessment tools as frames for dialogue to create and sustain professional learning communities | p. 119 |
| 10 Transforming practice from within: the power of the professional learning community | p. 132 |
| Part 3 Dilemmas | p. 149 |
| 11 Building professional learning communities in high schools: challenges and promising practices | p. 151 |
| 12 Building social capital in professional learning communities: importance, challenges and a way forward | p. 166 |
| 13 Sustainable professional learning communities | p. 181 |
| Part 4 Afterword | p. 197 |
| 14 Professional learning communities: a reflection | p. 199 |
| Index | p. 205 |
