“Our teachers are meeting in PLCs but we aren’t seeing any real changes in classroom practices.” Sound familiar?  This is a consistent theme we hear in our work with schools who are implementing PLCs. In other words, they are discovering that giving teachers’ time to meet in “learning communities” does not necessarily mean they are learning together.  Moreover, learning about best practices is not the same as using them in the classroom.  So what does it take to help teachers learn together, share their best ideas AND use what they are learning in the classroom so that students benefit?

The first step is to break the cycle of teachers as independent operators.

It is the start of a new school year and teachers are independently working in their rooms putting up bulletin boards, planning classroom procedures, writing up grading policies and developing lessons plans.  The challenge is that the procedures, policies and instructional practices of Teacher A may have little on no resemblance to those of Teacher B across the hall.  As a result, students bounce from class to class trying to navigate a maze of different routines rather than focusing on what they need to learn.   This fractured approach may work well for the teachers, but it rarely gives students enough practice with any one strategy, skill, routine, approach, or procedure to become expert at it.

The second step is to think deeply about what works best for students.

Stepping into the shoes of students for a moment and thinking about what works and what doesn’t work within and across classrooms can be the catalyst for changing from a culture of “me” to a culture of “we.”  Looking at the school day, classroom practices, and teaching styles through the lens of students casts a new light on how students experience school and can help teachers to think “bigger” than the walls of their own classrooms.

I was fortunate enough to spend time at Hoover High School in San Diego where the faculty has made this transition to the benefit of teachers and students alike. Much of what I witnessed and learned at Hoover (documented in this article for Principal Leadership) can serve as a model for other schools embarking on the PLC journey.

The third step is to use PLCs to work collaboratively on behalf of students.

I was struck by how a few simple changes by the faculty to implement consistent procedures across classes had a tremendous impact on student learning, in particular for struggling students and English language learners for whom “navigating the maze” was particularly challenging.  One example is the agreement by all teachers to use a consistent format and structure for note taking (Cornell Notes), enabling students to focus on what each teacher wants them to learn rather than how to take notes in each classroom.  A relatively simple change for the teachers had tremendous benefit for the students and helped move the school culture from “me” to “we”, making subsequent changes that much easier.

If you have other examples of where collaborative changes by the faculty have had a great impact on student learning, please share them in the comments section below!