Many districts have invested heavily in collaborative learning teams in various forms with little evidence of sustained improvement in classroom instruction.  Clearly there is a difference between “awareness” of learning communities and “application” of PLCs that foster lasting changes in classroom instruction.

The vision for collaborative learning communities is clear, yet many schools and districts struggle to make that PLC vision a reality.

Through nearly ten years of working with districts and schools, TeachFirst has identified five consistent obstacles to effective PLCs:

• Obstacle I: Developing the Instructional Leadership skills needed for leading a PLC school. School leaders who, despite their best efforts, currently lack the instructional leadership skills have to create and sustain the conditions needed to transform schools into learning organizations.

• Obstacle II: Creating Collaborative Cultures to overcome the resistors in all schools. School-based professional learning requires changing the status quo and shifting from a culture of “me” to “we.” School leaders who do not address these cultural barriers up-front struggle to gain the buy in to move their faculty through the required change process.

• Obstacle III: Fostering the PLC Facilitation Skills of teacher-leaders. Effectively facilitating a PLC of one’s peers is a learned skill  — one that is very different than teaching children.  Developing PLC facilitation skills is the key to developing school-based capacity for continuous improvement, yet is often overlooked or under supported during the PLC implementation process.

• Obstacle IV: Providing Instructional Content designed to be used within PLCs so time focuses on instructional improvement.  If we ask teachers to take ownership for their professional growth and don’t provide them with the tools and resources to do so successfully, then they are likely to give up and return to business as usual.  These tools and resources need to be designed for use by collaborative teams and teachers need to be trained in how to use the resources effectively and efficiently.

• Obstacle V: Lack of Transparency into the Impact on Classroom Instruction. Many districts have fought hard to carve precious time out of the school day to support PLC work, yet have no transparency into exactly how that time is being used within each PLC and whether or not it is resulting in changes in classroom instruction.

Unlike workshops, “PLC Summits” or “Parades of Experts”, our model focuses on the daily work required to address these challenges and make the vision of PLCs a reality in each school.  The result is PLCs that foster the consistent transfer of instructional practices into classrooms to meet the needs of all students.

If your schools may be facing any of the challenges outlined above and you’d like greater insight into both the challenges and potential solutions, please contact us at info@teachfirst.com.