The Problem with PLCs

I know, I know… You’re probably wondering what in the world I am doing by writing about a problem with Professional Learning Communities. I don’t really have a problem with the concept of PLCs. What I have a problem with is the way they are typically implemented — and I’m not talking about the most common implementation problem of complete misunderstanding of the concept (evident in schools where they say they have PLCs and yet the teachers are just meeting in traditional department meetings that exhibit no characteristics of true PLCs).

The problem I am referring to is the “lack of instructional focus” problem. This problem arises from the general description of PLCs that leaves out the whole “how to” question. You should already be familiar with the three common questions related to collaborative work in a PLC:

• What is it that we want students to learn?
• How will we know when they have learned it?
• What will we do when they haven’t learned it?

The question that is missing here is the “How will we help students to learn it?” — in other words, what kinds of instruction will we use. The three core PLC questions are wonderful at addressing the whole “curriculum, assessment, and intervention” equation — and that’s great. BUT — and this is a big BUT — what about instruction?

I have frequently heard teachers complain about the lack of the “how to” discussion in their departmental meetings. I am fairly confident that the bulk of the faculty on my campus have overcome this shortcoming by forcing the discussion in their department and content meetings — and we certainly force the discussion in our interdisciplinary team meetings — but what about campuses who are only just embarking on the PLC journey?

I would recommend that any campus that is in the process of implementing PLCs also include the “how to” question — and be sure to include it as the second question right after the “what” question — in order to build in discussions about instructional practice.

I would also recommend a 5th question — a question that our district has added to the list in order to push the coversations beyond intervention and include a focus on achievement and advanced academics:

• What will we do when students DO learn?

Finally, in order to push this conversation into a more concrete direction –

If you are currently working in an effective functioning PLC, please comment and share your story with us. What happens during your PLC meetings? What kinds of discussions occur? What kinds of obstacles do you encounter? What successes have you experienced? What other advice do you have for beginning PLCs?