Professional Learning Community (PLC) is essentially a process to foster a culture of professional excellence in schools across the system. PLC helps educators learn how to improve student outcomes in a systematic, timely and holistic manner, and also to enhance their own professional development.
It is where educators work interdependently to achieve teaching goals for which they are mutually and collectively accountable.
Sharing by a PLT in Science at Woodgrove Secondary
Staff
The classroom teacher is the most important factor in student learning. PLC is a natural platform for teachers to organise themselves into smaller Professional Learning Teams (PLTs) to improve their content knowledge, pedagogy and assessment rigour to address student learning gaps and challenges.
School
With teachers
organised into PLTs, schools as PLCs have a systematic approach to ensure
consistency in the quality of classroom practices. Time, and a process and
framework for professional learning are set aside, allowing staff to learn
relevant educational approaches, to translate these into better outcomes for
both staff and students.
System
When staff share
tacit knowledge and effective pedagogy in PLC existing within a collegial
environment, the quality of teaching is consistently better. The development of
a culture of learning and excellence among staff is an asset for students as
their achievement levels are consequently raised.