• Professional Learning Communities

    Have you ever wondered what the goal of education is? Some say it is to prepare one to be effective and productive citizens.  Others might say that it is to allow a student to eventually be able to learn new ideas and processes on their own, without taking a formal class to achieve this.  

    Over the past several years we have been reflecting upon the learning process and our role in it.  The framework we have employed as a lens to achieve this has been seeing ourselves as a Professional Learning Community or PLC.  According to Richard Dufour, one of the foremost writers on the topic, PLCs share several common goals including: a focus on learning, a culture of professional collaboration among staff members, an absolute commitment to learning for all students, and a belief that "continuous improvement—must be assessed on the basis of results rather than intentions."

    The transition to a Professional Learning Community is not "just another" initiative, but rather is a sea change in the educational process that takes place in the Wood School.  Instead of only looking at what is taught in the classroom, we look at what your children are learning.  To be specific, we look at three critical questions:

    1) What do we want all students to learn?

    2) How will we know when they learn it?

    3) What will we do when some students learn it and others do not?

     

    Our PLC journey is just that, a journey, we are constantly learning ourselves so this is an ongoing process.  To learn more about PLCs feel free to contact Wood School Principal Sean Richardson or your child's teacher.  In addition, here are some helpful links for more information on PLCs:

    The Annenberg Center for School Reform

    What is a Professional Learning Community? by Richard Dufour