Time for A PLC Refocus
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Throughout an academic year, an instructional coach can find themselves going through cycles when working within professional learning communities (PLCs). When you reflect on the function of your PLC group, it is easy to see how the PLC could loose focus on the main goals. If the facilitator of the PLC doesn't recognize the need for re-calibration early enough even the most dedicated group of educators could become completely derailed and discouraged. As a result of experiencing PLC train wrecks as well as PLC success stories, I developed the following short refocusing exercise for the instructional coach or PLC facilitator to implement with a team of teachers. Every team has different dynamics, but usually, around mid-year, a very observant instructional coach could begin to notice the signs that suggest it is time for a PLC Refocus. This is simple in concept, but it requires skillful execution. If the timing is right and the approach is non-judgmental the PLC could benefit greatly. Give it a try, and share your results.
Revisiting PLC Norms
Present each question to the entire team for collaboration and ask them to share their thoughts one question at a time. Ask clarifying questions like those below to simplify the group’s responses and collect their final answers.
What will you say and do when you disagree?
What will you say and do when you are not comfortable with a concept or teaching strategy?
What will you say and do when a colleague achieves a goal?
What will you say and do when a colleague doesn’t follow the PLC Norms?
Working with adults, no problem!
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So you have to work with an adult learner, and you have some concerns. Below is a comparison of the learning characteristics of adult learners and youth learners adapted from Rochester Institute of Technology. Of course, these are generalizations with exceptions occurring in each group of learners, but you may want to keep these differences in mind as you consider the learner population you will be working with.
Adult Learners
Youth Learners
Problem-centered; seek educational solutions to where they are compared to where they want to be in life
Subject-oriented; seek to successfully complete each learning task, regardless of how the task relates to their own goals
Results-oriented; have specific results in mind for education - will drop out if education does not lead to those results because their participation is usually voluntary
Future-oriented; youth education is often a mandatory or an expected activity in a youth's life and designed for the youth's future
Self-directed; typically not dependent on others for direction
Often depend on adults for direction
Often skeptical about new information; prefer to try it out before accepting it
Likely to accept new information without trying it out or seriously questioning it
Seek education that relates or applies directly to their perceived needs that is timely and appropriate for their current lives
Seek education that prepares them for an often unclear future; accept the postponed application of what is being learned
Accept responsibility for their own learning if learning is perceived as timely and appropriate
Depend on others to design their learning; reluctant to accept responsibility for their own learning
In summary, adult learners usually approach learning differently than younger learners:
They are more self-guided in their learning.
They bring more, and expect to bring more, to a learning situation because of their wider experience - and can take more away.
They require learning "to make sense" - they will not perform a learning activity just because you said to do it.
Summer Professional Development Idea #1
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Are you the type of teacher who looks forward to summer professional development, or are you trying to avoid anything related to learning until you absolutely have to go to a training seminar? Chances are you are somewhere in the middle. If you find yourself looking for a relaxing yet meaningful way to grow professionally this summer, try these quick and easy activities
Write a book or article review
How often do you get the chance to really get engulfed in academic reading? If you have ever had the urge to get to the heart of a troubling issue in education or simply have wanted to learn something new about your craft, the summer break is the perfect time to dive right in. Even during the summer, our lives can be busy, but without the hustle and bustle of the day-to-day classroom and school activities, we can really take the time to dissect an academic topic at your leisure. Make a list of the educational topics that pique your interest or get you on a soapbox the quickest. Then, search for relevant journals, books, or research articles, and strive to make the complex plain. Analyze the reading as though you were going to be responsible for supporting a new teacher on that topic. Before long, you will discover just how much you can grow professionally from simply researching topics of your choice during the summer break.