Overview

What is a professional learning community?What are the key challenges facing these communities and how might they be resolved?Is it time to extend our thinking about professional learning communities? There is great interest internationally in the potential of professional learning communities for enhancing educational reform efforts and sustaining improvement. This international collection expands perceptions and understanding of professional learning communities, as well as highlighting frequently neglected complexities and challenges. Drawing on research, each chapter offers a deeper understanding of topics such as distributed leadership, dialogue, organisational memory, trust, self-assessment and inquiry, and purpose linked to learning. The last section of the book focuses upon three of the most challenging dilemmas that face developing professional learning communities - developing professional learning communities in secondary school, building social capital, and sustaining professional learning communities. The authors provide pointers on why these challenges exist, offering rays of hope for ways forward.Professional Learning Communities is key international reading for education professionals, school practitioners, policymakers, academics and research students. It is a must-read for anyone interested in building capacity for sustainable learning and the ability to harness your community as a resource for change.

Full Product Details

Author:   Louise Stoll ,  Karen Seashore Louis
Publisher:   Open University Press
Imprint:   Open University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.70cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 23.60cm
Weight:   0.707kg
ISBN:  

9780335220311

ISBN 10:   0335220312
Pages:   232
Publication Date:   16 March 2007
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Out of Print
Availability:   Out of stock  

Table of Contents

Series' editors' preface Acknowledgements List of contributors List of figures and tablesProfessional learning communities: Elaborating new approaches Part 1Divergence The involvement of support staff in professional learning communities Extending the learning community: a broader perspective embedded in policy From professional learning community to networked learning community Beyond borders: can international networks deepen professional learning community? Part 2Depth 'Normalizing' problems of practice: converting routine conversation into a resource for learning in professional communities How leaders use artifacts to structure professional community in schools Developing collective understanding over time: reflections on building professional community Using assessment tools as frames for dialogue to create and sustain professional learning communities Transforming practice from within: the power of the professional learning community Part 3Dilemmas Building professional learning communities in high schools: challenges and promising practices Building social capital in professional learning communities: importance, challenges and a way forward Sustainable professional learning communities Part 4Afterword Professional learning communities: a reflection

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Author Information

Louise Stoll is Past President of the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement and Visiting Professor at the London Centre for Leadership in Learning, Institute of Education, University of London and University of Bath. She was a co-director of the Effective Professional Learning Communities (EPLC) Project. Her current research, development work and writing focuses on capacity building and professional learning communities within and between schools nationally and internationally. Karen Seashore Louis is Director of the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement and Professor of Educational Policy and Administration at the University of Minnesota. Her primary research interests focus on school improvement and school reform, especially improvement in K-12 leadership and policy over the last 30 years, particularly in urban secondary schools. She is the author of many books, including Professionalism and Community: Perspective on Reforming Urban Schools, with Sharon Kruse and Associates.

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