Networks for Learning

Effective Collaboration for Teacher, School and System Improvement

Chris Brown, Cindy Poortman, Chris Brown, Cindy Poortman, Chris Brown, Cindy L. Poortman

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351996976
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Educational researchers, policy-makers and practitioners are increasingly focusing their attention on Professional Learning Networks in order to facilitate teacher development and encourage school and school system improvement. However, despite the understanding that PLNs can contribute significantly to improving teaching practice and student achievement, there are key challenges regarding their use. These challenges include:

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• ensuring PLNs can provide opportunities for generating and sharing knowledge within schools
• enabling teachers and professionals to direct their own development
• helping individuals change their practices through inquiry-led approaches
• facilitating partnerships which work across a variety of stakeholders

In this new edited volume, Brown and Poortman evaluate these challenges from both a theoretical and practical approach. A multitude of perspectives from a team of international contributors covers:

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• the importance of Professional Learning Networks
• the use of evidence within PLNs
• the impact of inter-school networks
• international cases of networks and communities
• the promotion and sustainability of PLNs

Also featuring case studies and exemplars to contextualise sustainable learning networks, Networks For Learning is an accessible and thoroughly-researched book, which will be essential reading and a valuable resource for researchers, teachers and school leaders who are interested in developing professional learning networks.

1

THE IMPORTANCE OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING NETWORKS

Cindy L. Poortman and Chris Brown

1.1 Introduction

This chapter examines the current educational landscape as a framework for the growing international focus on Professional Learning Networks (PLNs). Policy demands in our increasingly complex society are important drivers for this focus. These international policy demands are outlined in the chapter along with the nascent focus on partnerships and networks (Section 1.2). At the same time, we ask how PLNs can be expected to address these demands. We explore this question by examining ‘how networks work’ (Section 1.3), before delving deeper into the supporting conditions required for PLNs (Section 1.4), how the learning that takes place in PLNs can transfer from the individual to the school (Section 1.5) and the notion of boundary crossing (Section 1.6). In the final section (1.7), we argue that Professional Learning Networks form the most viable way for teachers and schools to improve pedagogy and student outcomes both within and across schools. Moreover, we outline how the subsequent chapters provide extensive examples of the myriad ways in which PLNs can be pursued, and the challenges that teachers, school leaders and other stakeholders face in their realization.

1.2 Policy demands for partnerships and learning networks

Policy demands in today’s increasingly complex society are important drivers for networked forms of professional development. There is now an international focus on school improvement to better prepare students for the workforce demands of the 21st century (Schleicher, 2012). Individuals in this new space must be capable of constantly adapting, learning, growing and collaborating (Pellegrino & Hilton, 2012; Binkley et al., 2012), as well as positioning themselves to be contributing members in a fast-changing world. Preparing current students for this future requires teachers to become “high-level knowledge workers who constantly advance their own professional knowledge as well as that of their profession” (Schleicher, 2012: 11). In this context, high quality, continuing professional learning and development is necessary to ensure that all teachers are able to meet the demands of diverse student populations (Kools & Stoll, 2016; Schleicher, 2012).

Furthermore, educators learning both from colleagues and others (e.g. university researchers) is considered an effective way to support them in rethinking their own practice and improving instruction (Vescio et al., 2008). This suggests that efforts at school improvement should now be framed within a broader context, moving from the school as a single unit to considering the connections between schools, central offices and others in networks (Finnigan et al., 2015). PLNs of teachers “committed to and capable of creating deep and broad teaching and learning” (Hargreaves & Shirley, 2009: 107) represents a promising approach to achieving continuous school improvement. It is of no surprise therefore that PLNs are now actively being pursued: as Stringfield and Sellers (2016) observe, in the US, the formal role of networks and networking is higher than at any previous time in educational history. Indeed, the contribution to this book by authors from a number of countries including the US, Canada, New Zealand, Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Germany and England shows the global relevance the notion of Professional Learning Networks now has.

1.3 How networks work

In the introduction to this book, we define Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) as any group who engage in collaborative learning with others outside of their everyday community of practice (Wenger, 1998), in order to improve teaching and learning in their school(s) and/or the school system more widely. For the purposes of this book, PLNs always comprise teachers, but other types of members may also be included, such as school leaders and policymakers. In connection with the educational landscape described above, the focus of this book is principally on PLNs with members from different schools (and possibly other organizations), rather than on teacher teamwork within schools. The assumption underpinning this book is that such networks are essential for school and system improvement. However, we also know that mixed results or only small effects have been reported in extant research (e.g. Chapman & Muijs, 2014; Lomos et al., 2011; Prenger et al., in press). In other words, we know that PLNs do not automatically lead to school and system improvement. According to Chapman (2014), moving from a within-school to a between-school approach is especially challenging, let alone using PLNs to improve an entire system. This calls for a clear theory of action that explains how participation within PLNs by educators such as teachers and school leaders can contribute to learning. This theory of action should also include a proposed pathway for how educators’ learning subsequently leads to improved education, both in individual schools and beyond (Van Lare & Brazer, 2013). The scope of any conceptual framework for PLNs thus needs to encompass individual learning, group learning, organizational learning, and the school and system contexts within which PLNs operate (Van Lare & Brazer, 2013).

Correspondingly, our conceptual framework for PLNs has at its center an operational theory of how professional development activities can influence student outcomes (Earl et al., 2006). From this perspective, educators’ learning in a PLN is required to lead to major changes in the practices and structures of schools. In turn, these changes are required to lead to improved student learning. Consequently, our general line of reasoning is that (1) if teachers experience effective professional development through participation in PLNs; (2) this will help develop their knowledge, skills, and attitudes; (3) this new knowledge, skills, and attitudes can then be used to improve the content of their instruction, their pedagogy, or both; and (4) improvements to content or pedagogy will subsequently lead to increased learning amongst students (Desimone et al., 2013). What is also clear, however, is that wide-scale improvements in student learning will be a function of how PLN members share their knowledge and skills with other colleagues in their everyday communities of practice (e.g. their school). As such, we discuss the exchange and brokerage of learning from PLN to school in more detail in Sections 1.5 and 1.6. First, however, we delve into the second central element in our conceptual framework: the set of conditions that support effective professional development in PLNs.

1.4 Conditions for effective PLNs

Current literature on PLNs suggests that there are five key conditions supporting the ability of PLNs to drive changes in practice and student learning. Although different studies present slightly different terms, in general these conditions are represented by the ideas of focus, collaboration, reflective professional inquiry, leadership and group and individual learning. It is important to note that these conditions are relevant to and require attention both at the level of the network and at the level of the schools of the participating educators (Earl et al., 2006).

The first key condition is focus. Focus refers to the existence of a shared goal or sense of purpose among educators and the degree to which they agree with their school’s mission and their school’s operational principles (Lomos et al., 2011; van Veen et al., 2010). For a PLN, focus refers to the shared sense of purpose among individual members (from different schools and/or organizations) and how this coheres to the specific goal(s) of the PLN. The goals for participation set by the schools as well as the goals of individual members are likely to influence this shared sense of purpose. For example, a PLN could be focused on developing new lesson material in the context of a new examination program for chemistry (see Chapter 2). The different schools of the participating teachers may have a variety of reasons for having their teachers participate in the PLN, however. For instance, some schools may have a more general goal of wanting to focus teachers’ allotted professional development time specifically towards developing lesson material that can be used in practice. The support teachers experience for participating and communicating PLN outcomes to colleagues will likely be influenced by such school-level goals. The teachers themselves may have specific ideas about their goals as well, ranging from ‘exchanging ideas with others’, to developing material for specific chemistry lessons (again, see Chapter 2). In the case of data teams (see Chapter 5), schools may want their teachers to learn about how to use data to deal with all kinds of educational problems. Teachers themselves may agree with this idea, or they might only be interested in solving the educational problem they regard to be immediately at hand. Goals at the PLN, school and individual levels need not be identical, but the PLN will not be effective if these goals contradict each other. Even if the shared goal of the PLN is not clearly determined at the start of the PLN, it is important that all members work together on formulating and subsequently working toward such a goal. A clear and agreed-upon focus (on student learning) provides vision and direction for really building capacity and sharing learning, without the risk of being distracted by all sorts of other initiatives and activities (Earl et al., 2006; Katz & Earl, 2010): such a focus has also been shown to have a significant impact on teaching practice (Katz & Earl, 2010).

The second and most frequently cited supporting condition is collaboration (e.g. see Katz & Earl, 2010; Lomos et al., 2011; Stoll et al., 2006; Vescio et al., 2008). Collaboration in a PLN should go beyond superficial exchange of help, support, or assistance. Instead, deep collaboration entails teachers not only exchanging ideas, but also discussing the underlying beliefs guiding their teaching. In deep collaboration, teachers share and clarify their pedagogical motives which direct how teaching and learning should be structured (Vangrieken et al., 2015). Collaboration engages teachers in opening up their beliefs and practices to investigation and debate (Katz & Earl, 2010). For successful collaboration, active participation is important (Voogt et al., 2011; Huffman & Jacobson, 2003). The challenge for PLNs, therefore, is how participants might engage effectively with, and maximize the benefits of, having access to the range of knowledge, experience and expertise present within the learning network.

The third condition is reflective professional inquiry, which refers to the conversations teachers have about serious educational issues or problems (Lomos et al., 2011). Teachers should be actively and collectively questioning ineffective teaching routines while finding proactive means to acknowledge and respond to differences and conflict (Little, 2005). As we show in later chapters (e.g. Chapter 3), this challenge can often be met through facilitated approaches such as ‘learning conversations’: conversations structured to help teachers make sense of various forms of evidence in order to drive real changes in student learning (Earl & Timperley, 2008). The fourth condition, meanwhile, is leadership (Huffman & Jacobson, 2003; Katz & Earl, 2010). Both formal and informal leaders within the schools and the PLN have a crucial role to play in stimulating focus, providing both intellectual and instrumental support, monitoring development, and disseminating information (Earl et al., 2006). What’s more, the importance of providing time and other resources is repeatedly acknowledged in the literature (ibid.). At the same time, time and resources (or lack thereof) remain one of the biggest challenges to professional learning for school staff (Kools & Stoll, 2016). Again, leadership is instrumental in ensuring that such support is provided.

The fifth and final condition is group and individual learning. Explicit attention to both individual and group learning promotes effectiveness. For example, individual members’ prior knowledge and motivation will influence their own learning. These also influence the team’s progress, however. Having individual members with various backgrounds, for example, can be experienced as impeding if some members are (or rapidly move) ahead in their thinking and learning in relation to the focus area, or are generally more motivated to spend time on PLN activity. At the same time, variation in backgrounds can also prove to be an advantage if different perspectives can provide input for discussion and reflection enabling all participants to learn. In turn, progress made and activities undertaken by the PLN will also influence individuals, leading to self-reinforcing learning loops.

It is important to note that these supporting conditions are interconnected (Earl et al., 2006). Changes in one or more conditions are likely to trigger changes in other conditions. A key question that remains, however, is what learning in the network looks like. How can the step from individual to group learning and learning beyond the PLN be accomplished? We examine this question in the next section.

1.5 Learning in PLNs and their school organizations

To understand how to achieve (school-wide) improvement in the schools of PLN members, we need to explore how PLNs can bring...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• Introduction
• 1 The importance of Professional Learning Networks
• 2 Balancing top-down and shared leadership: A case study of a Teacher Design Team in transition to a new approach
• 3 Research Learning Networks: A case study in using networks to increase knowledge mobilization at scale
• 4 Developing Communities of Pedagogical Inquiry in British Columbia
• 5 From data to learning: A data team Professional Learning Network
• 6 Austria’s Lerndesigner Network: The dynamics of Virtual Professional Learning in interschool networks
• 7 A Professional Learning Network for the entire local education system: Educational landscapes in Germany
• 8 A Lesson Study Professional Learning Network in secondary education
• 9 Learning networks for sustainable literacy achievement
• 10 Getting beneath the surface: Examining the social side of Professional Learning Networks
• 11 Establishing sustainable school improvement through Professional Learning Networks
• 12 Looking back and moving forward: Where to next for networks of learning?
• Index