Keynote presentation for the National Colloquium on Professional Learning Communities organized by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) - South Africa

1. Introduction & Exploration
Professional Learning Communities
DBE-VVOB partnership
National Colloquium on Professional Learning Communities
Pretoria, September 18-19, 2014

2. Outline
1. Drivers for educational reform
2. Gap between policy and practice
3. Effectiveness professional development
4. Professional Learning Communities
– Salient features
– Potential
– Impact
– Ambiguities

3. Driver: Changing Demand for Skills
Trends in routine and non-routine tasks in occupations, United States, 1960 to 2009
OECD World Skills Outlook, 2013

4. Driver: New Conceptions of Knowledge
Solution
Fluency
Digital
Citizen
Creativity
Fluency
Collabora
tion
Fluency
Information
Fluency
Media
Fluency

5. Driver: International Education Assessments
• Global competition
• Expose weaknesses SA education
system (outcomes, inequality…)
• Trend towards ‘evidence-based’
approaches

6. Historical Warning
“And it ought to be remembered that there is nothing more
difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more
uncertain in its success, then to take the lead in the
introduction of a new order of things.
Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have
done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders
in those who may do well under new”.
The Prince,
N. Machiavelli, 1515

7. Hurricane Metaphor for Education Reform
“ In classrooms both change and continuity unfold in regular,
undisturbed patterns. The trend, regardless of what new
structures policymakers design, is small alterations over time in
stable teaching practices.”
Prof. L.Cuban, 2010
http://larrycuban.wordpress.com/2010/09/07/are-school-reforms-more-like-a-pendulum-or-a-hurricane

8. What Makes Professional Development Effective?
Type of instruction % of
effective learning
Lectures 4,5
Reading 11
Audiovisual media 22
Demonstration 32
Group discussion 56
Practical 75
Instruction to teach the subject to others 82
Douchy, 2000

9. Implementation Gap
“Most teachers are still teaching largely in isolation, as over half
of teachers report very rarely or never team-teaching with
colleagues, and two-thirds report the same rates for observing
their colleagues teach. Some 46% of teachers report never
receiving feedback on their teaching from their school leader,
and 51% have never received feedback from other members of
the school management.”
TALIS 2013

10. What Makes Professional Development Effective?
Planning of professional development
“The effectiveness of any professional development activity, regardless
of its content, structure or format, depends mainly on how well it is
planned”
Guskey, 2014

11. Planning and Evaluating CPD
Participants’
Reactions/
Optimal CPD
activities
Participants’
Learning/
Required
knowledge and
skills
Organisational
support and
change
Application of
new
knowledge and
skills
Impact on
learning
outcomes
Planning of CPD
Evaluation of CPD
Based on Guskey, 2014

12. Learning Community
Corporate business origin of PLCs
“Learning organisations are those organisations where people
continually expand their capacity to create the results they desire,
where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where
collective aspiration is explored, and where people are continually
learning to see the whole together.”
Senge, 1990

13. Anthropological origin of PLCs
"Communities of practice are an integral part of our daily lives. While
the term may be new, the experience is not. Most communities of
practice do not have a name or issue membership cards.“
Lave and Wenger, 1991
Learning as Social Participation

14. Salient Features of PLCs
Collective
responsibility
for student
Bolam et al., 2005
learning
Open and
inclusive
membership
Shared vision
and focus on
learning
Mutual trust,
respect and
support
Leadership
Collaborative
& Reflective
Inquiry

15. High potential of PLCs
Potential
Focus on
real
classroom
problems
Cost
effective
Sharing
materials
Mentoring
of
newcomers
Infusion of
new ideas
Cultivating
leadership

16. Activities & Benefits
Activities
Lesson Study
Lesson Observations
Action Research
Error Analysis
Outcomes
Bridging gap between
theory and practice
Creating spaces for
addressing practical
issues
Lifelong learning
Data-informed
practice
Impact
Learning outcomes
Equity
Teacher Identity
School Culture

17. Ambiguities
• Teacher preparedness
– Opportunity cost
– Time consuming
– Perceived as ‘add-on’
– Proper training and coaching
– Past experiences with CPD of
weak translation to practice
• School preparedness
– Funding
– Time
– Leadership for effective CPD and change: supportive environment

18. Ambiguities
• PLC Implementation
– No local evidence-informed
knowledge base
– Cultural factors
(cfr. Hairon and Dimmock, 2012)
– Command & Control,
Over or covert resistance,
contrived compliance
• Dilemmas
– Top down vs bottom up
– Compulsory vs Voluntary
– Formal vs informal

19. Impact of PLCs
• Ingvarson, Meiers and Beavis (2005):
– positive correlations between participation in PLCs and…
• Application of knowledge and innovations in teaching
practice
• Student outcomes
• Teachers’ confidence
• Vescio, Ross and Adams (2008):
– Participation of teachers in PLCs resulted in changes in teaching
practice
– Evidence of improvement of student learning as a result of
participation of teachers in PLCs

20. Impact of PLCs
OECD, TALIS 2013 Database

21. Communities and Networks

22. Growing PLCs
“…you cannot force a plant to grow by pulling its leaves…
what you can do is create the infrastructure in which it can
prosper.”
- Etienne Wenger, 1999

23. References
References
• H. Timperley, A. Wilson, H. Barrar & I. Fung (2007), Teacher Professional Learning
and Development: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration, Wellington, New Zealand:
Ministry of Education, http://educationcounts.edcentre.govt.nz/goto/BES
• Vescio, V., Ross, D. and Adams, A. (2008) ‘A review of research on the impact of
professional learning communities on teaching practice and student learning’,
Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(1), pp. 80–91.
• Ingvarson, L., Meiers, M. and Beavis, A. (2005) ‘Factors affecting the impact of
professional development programs on teachers’ knowledge, practice, student
outcomes & efficacy’, Professional Development for Teachers and School Leaders,
[online] Available from: http://research.acer.edu.au/professional_dev/1.
• Hairon, S. and Dimmock, C. (2012) ‘Singapore schools and professional learning
communities: teacher professional development and school leadership in an Asian
hierarchical system’, Educational Review, 64(4), pp. 405–424.
• Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991) Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation,
Cambridge university press.
• Brodie, K. (2014) ‘Learning about learner errors in professional learning
communities’, Educational Studies in Mathematics, 85(2), pp. 221–239.

24. Contact
– Stefaan.vandewalle@vvob.be
– Twitter @stefaanvw
– http://www.vvob.be/southafrica