Maureen Ferrel

Professional Learning Communities in Physical Education

We are experiencing a shift in the way we think about teaching physical education. Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are about changing the focus from what teachers are teaching to what students are learning. With the advent of content standards we are charged with changing the culture of our past from a 'roll out the ball' ideology to teaching content standards. For many, this may be too overwhelming a task. The formation of professional learning communities within a department, as well as across the school system, may ensure effective change. (resource)

What exactly are 'Professional Learning Communities?' Dr. Richard DuFour introduced his brand of the 'buzzword' over a decade ago, and provided the following definition: 'The powerful collaboration that characterizes professional learning communities is a systematic process in which teachers work together to analyze and improve their classroom practice. Teachers work in teams, engaging in an ongoing cycle of questions that promote deep team learning. This process, in turn, leads to higher levels of student achievement.' It’s all about collaborative support in teams 'responsible for the success of students.'

DuFour emphasizes that for PLCs to work teachers must 'buy into' the concept. They must be given opportunities to do their own exploration and discovery on issues related to student learning. This involves not only putting teachers together in teams, but also supporting teams by providing initial training, follow-up, and opportunities to observe successful PLCs in action. "It's a process that is designed to change the culture of your school. It's not an easy process; it's hard to change old patterns and assumptions."

The 'big ideas' or questions at the core of PLCs are:
• What do we want each student to learn? How will we know when each student has learned it?
• How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning?
• For many of us, frameworks and content standards guide our curriculum.

The process involves breaking down exactly what it is we want students to learn. Team members decide on assessments that identify what skills and knowledge students will acquire. When students have difficulty learning, the response is timely, based on intervention rather than remediation, and directive rather than inviting.

Anne Jolly, director of Professional Learning Teams at the Southeastern Education Research and Development Laboratory suggests that PLCs should meet weekly. She suggests guidelines to facilitate the process:

• Get a firm handle on your team's purpose and revisit it frequently.
• Build in opportunities for success with short-term "doable" benchmarks.
• Keep negative energy at bay.
• Relax and experiment - "Give yourselves permission to try new teaching strategies and be unsuccessful."
• Develop a concrete product that demonstrates what your team is accomplishing – including a rubric, matrix, lesson plan, etc. – and share it school-wide.
• Take time to reflect.
• Always make a decision as a team before leaving the meeting.
• Rotate responsibilities to avoid member burnout.

Successful Professional Learning Communities can eventually become part of the school culture. Conditions needed include time for teachers to meet and talk, policies that support site-based decision-making, and self-directed professional development planning. Physical Educators, willing to work together and hold themselves accountable for meeting the needs of students by focusing on learning rather than teaching, will see positive change.

some resources:

• Professional Learning Communities - 12 page PDF file
• Virtual Workshop - lots of web site links to explore this topic
• A Physical Education Learning Community: Development and First-year Assessment
• How we formed our community

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