By Robert Eaker, Janel Keating, and Meagan Rhoades

Recently, an assistant superintendent for operations inquired about the role the support staff plays in a district that is committed to functioning as a professional learning community (PLC). While the answer to this query may seem obvious, the role of the support staff in a PLC may be overlooked by some. Let’s be clear; the support staff plays an important role in any school district, but this is especially true in a district that seeks to function as a PLC. For example, secretaries are often the first people parents contact when they call or enter a school. Bus drivers can undo in one afternoon what a teacher has worked on for weeks with a student. A smile and a kind comment from a cafeteria worker can light up a child’s day. Think about how it makes you feel when you get an unexpected smile or compliment. Think about the effect it has on the rest of your day! Kids who have positive interactions with the adults they come in contact with will walk into their classroom knowing that they are valued and ready to do the work.

A number of cultural shifts occur when a school or school district begins to function as a PLC. The first and perhaps most important big idea of a PLC is a shift from a focus on teaching to an intense focus on learning. It is important to recognize that this intense focus on learning is not limited to students. There is also an intense focus on the learning of adults--including the support staff!

The second big idea of a PLC involves a shift from a culture of isolation to a culture of collaboration exemplified by high-performing collaborative teams. Numerous studies have demonstrated the power of collaborative teams, both inside and outside the educational community. The benefit of teams is not limited to teachers. The real impact of a collaborative culture occurs when an entire school district, including the support staff, is organized into highly effective collaborative teams.

The third big idea of a PLC is a shift from a focus on intentions to a passionate focus on results. A PLC is a culture of continuous improvement. Therefore, school districts that function as PLCs ensure that every component of the district sets measurable goals and then focuses intently on achieving them. This is also true of the support staff whether it is transportation, food service, or office personnel support.

The Support Staff: Modeling Professional Learning Community Concepts

A PLC is a way of thinking about schooling. In a district that functions as a true PLC, the support staff models the concepts and practices that form the PLC framework. Here’s how:

Gaining Shared Knowledge: Seeking Out Best Practice

Basic to all professions is the idea that what professionals do is based on the latest and best information available at any particular time. The support staff in a district that functions as a PLC develops, plans, and implements the latest and best practices available. For example, secretaries will learn the very latest in technology or bus drivers will be up to date on safety issues. Para-educators study research-based intervention practices. The support staff in a school district that functions as a PLC is constantly learning best practices and seeking to improve.

Working in a Collaborative Culture

A PLC is also characterized by a culture of collaboration, collaborative teams planning together, analyzing results, and seeking ways to improve. Ideally, improvement doesn’t just happen in the classroom; it should happen throughout the school and district. Streamlining processes, making sure that everyone is reading out of the same book and working off the same page, is something that should happen in every area of a school district. A cultural shift should include every department within the district, otherwise it becomes more of a "some people" shift rather than a cultural shift.

A Culture of Experimentation

Members of a PLC do more than learn; they act--they experiment in ongoing attempts to get better. They are not satisfied with the status quo. They realize that to create a culture of continuous improvement, they must try new things and that becoming a PLC is a journey, not a destination.

An Intense Focus on Results

How well are we doing? What are the results of our efforts? These questions drive the support staff in a PLC. They set goals and monitor them frequently. They develop specific plans to celebrate and publicly recognize both individuals and groups when improvement occurs. In short, the support staff is driven by the question, "How well are we doing and how do we know?"

The White River Example

The White River School District located in Buckley, Washington, implemented a one-hour late start on Mondays to allow grade level department teams time to collaborate. At first there was an assumption that only teachers "had to" do this. Of course, if the goal is to change the culture of a school district to function as a PLC, where the culture of learning for all is valued, half of the employees cannot be separated and told indirectly that they will not be a integral part of this learning culture. The White River School District decided to act as if they really meant it and emphasized shared learning with everyone--especially the support staff.

What Did They Do?

In White River, the secretarial/office personnel staff was frequently excused from participating in events. We know the secretarial staff must be on duty to answer the phones, greet parents, and help staff, so it is difficult to require the approximately 60 staff members to be away from their desks. They couldn’t be pulled from their buildings for one hour every Monday during the late starts designed for collaborative team time. To solve this problem, the secretarial staff was split into two groups with each group meeting every other Monday. The groups focused on customer service training, and time management and technology skills. The same training was repeated for each group to ensure consistency with what they were learning.

What Happened?

It was wonderful to observe these very busy professionals continue to show up every other Monday, despite the fact that they knew a great deal of work would be waiting for them when they returned to their desks. One school secretary commented, "I always look forward to these Mondays because I know that not only will I learn something, but I always leave with a smile on my face." Another secretary commented that what she loved about the technology training was that she could actually start using the new information as soon as she returned to her desk. An additional benefit of this shared learning was that the staff was able to get together as a group and get to know each other, something that doesn’t typically happen for the support staff in more traditional districts. As the White River support staff learned more about what others did and the issues they faced (and because they developed some personal connections), they felt more comfortable reaching out to one another to ask questions and, more importantly, help each other. Additional sharing began to occur outside these meetings. And over time, the training and interactions became increasingly site specific, focusing on training in programs that helped expedite the daily tasks of support personnel throughout the district.

What Did We Learn?

One of the resources that was used in White River’s customer service training was Give ’em the Pickle by Robert Farrell (1998). A consistent theme in every customer service resource that was used in White River was how people are most successful in their jobs when they are also having fun. Mr. Farrell observes that for people to have fun in their jobs, they need to first be competent. He writes, "You show employees that you care about them and you value the work that they do by making training a priority." As best practices in any field are refined and improved, training is required to keep staff up to date. Offering all staff members continual training and access to the best and most current practices for their positions enables them to perform their jobs more effectively.

We also learned about the importance of planned celebrations. We know that in the absence of ceremonies and celebrations, things we say we value lose credibility. Everyone wants to be recognized for doing difficult and complex jobs well. We learned that these celebrations cannot be left to chance. They must be planned and become an integral part of school and district culture.

Summary

What happens in classrooms never happens in isolation. Every interaction children have, from waking in the morning to walking into the classroom, has an effect on the attitude they bring to learning, their focus, and how they feel about the school environment. Establishing a true PLC is another way of saying, "It takes a village to raise a child." It could also be put this way--there is never a time when interactions just "don’t matter." Ensuring high levels of learning for all students requires high levels of learning for the adults who serve them. Helping more students learn more is truly a worthwhile goal. Anything less than the full participation of each and every staff member in this effort is unacceptable if we really mean it!