PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES

Professional Learning Communities

Professional Learning Communities

The continual search for more effective strategies for school improvement has led to a number of new models of school reform. Some of these rely heavily upon findings in the field of human relations and organizational theory. The professional learning community (PLC) represents an emerging model for school improvement that draws from what we know about human relations and organizational change (Olivier, Hipp & Huffman, 2003).

While the literature provides various characteristics that describe the operations of a PLC, extensive research has led Dr. Shirley Hord to propose five attributes or dimensions that characterize professional learning ...