Richard DuFour, EdD, was a public school educator for 34 years. A prolific author and sought-after consultant, he is recognized as one of the leading authorities on helping school practitioners implement the PLC at Work™ process.
New Article: Teacher Collaboration Can’t Be Voluntary
In a new article, "Work Together: But Only if You Want To," published in the February issue of Phi Delta Kappan, Rick DuFour argues that collaboration among educators cannot be a voluntary process and presents evidence that teacher isolation is not as successful as a collaborative culture.
Check out Rick DuFour’s article and others on our Articles & Research page, then share your thoughts in the comments below.
How does your school actively promote collaboration between teachers?
Comments
cheapcoach
Am I the only one who doesn't want a White Dress?
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mackenziw
We recently adopted PLC. I am a special education teacher and find myself spread very thin. We PLC as a faculty. We PLC as a special education and we also PLC in the area we teach or co-teach. For example, I teach non-diploma English, so I meet with the English department as well. I love collaboration and learning what works from other teachers, but feel overwhelmed at times. I enjoy meeting with the English department because of my love for literacy, but very little applies to me. I do believe that my school needs a more effective way to facilitate our meetings. I am very willing and excited to collaborate, but want it to be a meaningful experience for me.
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Gateach
In my school we are required to meet weekly. Most weeks these meetings consist of little more than misgivings, problems encountered with students or parents and little to do with how to improve assessments or other areas of our teaching methods. After reading this article and others, I am now inclined to help bring about change in our PLC. I am sure others would appreciate change for the better when given another route to take. Thanks for great article!
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kimfl
At my school we all worked together on individual teams and as a school to come together for the well being of all our students. As a PLC we are all responsible for every child we come in contact with. We discuss what works for individual students and how we can help others. It is extremely important that the entire school works together.
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erinpatc
The same thing happened in my school district 3 years ago when we began the PLC process. We were told to meet in grade level content area teams (PLC's) to create common assessments in each content area for each grade level. This, we thought was a good idea for areas that did not have common unit assessments. However, the district took it a step further. They gave us a very specific blueprint we had to follow in creating the assessments. They set percentages for each type of question on the test. For example 15% selected response, 15% constructed response, etc. While we felt as though guidelines were a good concept, this pushed many teachers too far. They were giving us a one size fits all approach to the test, despite different needs, standards, and learning styles that needed to be addressed within content areas. They were directing the math team to create an assessment of the same format as the history team. It couldn't work. Worse yet, teachers became so bitter about the blueprint test, that PLC meetings became little more than complaining sessions. I went to administration and addressed my team's concerns regarding the blueprint. Slowly, the blueprint was adjusted, and teams were allowed to create their own blueprints for common assessments based on what they believed their content area needed. This helped more teachers to buy into the process and be a part of a PLC. I would caution administrators at the beginning of the PLC process in their districts to give too rigid of instructions. Start slow and make teachers feel as though you value their thoughts and ideas if you want them to partake in the process meaningfully.
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inspiredteacher
la_teacher,
I do believe that teachers should have input as to how student performance can be improved. We are the ones who work with these students on a daily basis and know our students strengths and weaknesses. My school recently implemented PLC time where we meet with our colleagues. I find this time very beneficial and a great way to collaborate with others to benefit our students and their success. I do believe that guidance from administration is much needed and appreciated, we are all working towards one goal and it requires all team members to be on board!
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Staff at AllThingsPLC.info
As a former principal I know how hard it can be to learn about something new that you believe will really make a difference for students and not know how to get your teachers to be as passionate about this change as you are. Having felt this way about Professional Learning Communities myself, let me share what I learned about getting teacher “buy-in” to the process. First, schools need to begin by building a guiding coalition of staff members who believe in the principles of PLC: that all kids can learn at high levels and that our purpose as a school is to assure that this happens; that collaborative teams are more effective that individual teachers working in isolation; and that we must pay attention to our results (data) to know if the decisions we make are effective. This guiding coalition should include the principal as well as teacher leaders and other staff members. The guiding coalition should work together to learn about PLCs and to create a vision about what they want their school to become. They will help their colleagues build shared knowledge around the PLC process.
Schools generally must go through some cultural shifts as they begin this work: they must believe that the collaborative team is more effective than each individual teacher, that all teachers on that team are responsible for all of the students on that team, that all students can learn at high levels, and that the teachers and administrators must do whatever it takes to make that happen. The guiding coalition should assess the current school culture to help the staff learn more about how to make this happen.
Next teachers should be organized onto collaborative teams that make sense to answer the four questions collaborative teams answer: What is it we want our students to know and do, how will we know that they can, what will we do for those who can’t, and what will we do for those who already can. These teams are composed of teachers who teach the same subject or grade level. Teams must have time built into their contractual school day to do this work. Early work should include taking a realistic look at the school’s current data. Who are the students who are currently not successful? What will we need to do for these students if we really believe all kids can learn?
My hope is that you are interested in being a part of this guiding coalition and that you found this site because you wanted to learn more. Rick’s article in the Kappan lays out a strong passion and purpose for building collaborative teams; the PLC process is research-based and, as you can see on the “evidence of effectiveness” section of this website, has made a difference for many kids and their teachers. Strong teacher leadership is necessary to make this happen. Principals can’t simply say we’re going to be a PLC and expect it to happen. Building shared knowledge about the process, creating a shared vision for the school, and learning together is what will make your school a Professional Learning Community.
--Chris Jakicic, PLC at Work associate
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la_teacher
I'm new to this community and so glad I found it. I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post this question, but here goes. This school year our principal announced that we are a PLC. He gave us an article to read explaining PLCs then proceeded to tell us what we were going to do to improve student performance. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I thought collaboration was key in a PLC? At my school we are told, "You will do this now meet with your grade level to make it happen."
My question is, if we are a PLC, is this the way things should be done, or shouldn't the teachers have more 'buy-in' on how things will be accomplished?
Thank you.
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