The Art and Science of Leadership in Learning Environments: Facilitating a Professional Learning Community across Districts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11575/ajer.v61i2.56108Keywords:
Keywords, learning community, community of practice, educational leadership, facilitation, coaching, Mots clés, communauté d’apprentissage, communauté de pratique, leadership pédagogique, mentoratAbstract
A professional learning community (PLC) is one of the most promising strategies for effecting change in educational practices to improve academic achievement and wellbeing for all students. The PLC facilitator’s role in developing and leading blended (online and face-to-face) PLCs with members from Ontario’s school districts was examined through a qualitative case study. The research involved a document analysis of 36 reflections from 6 facilitators, observations, and a 2-hour, open ended, semi-structured interview with 6 facilitation coaches associated with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario. Facilitators shared leadership with PLC members to develop collaborative cultures, shared goals and artifacts, and guided them using dialogue and open-ended questioning to promote deep thinking, inquiry, and reflection. They scheduled meetings, set deadlines, monitored progress, and contacted members between meetings to encourage attendance. This research provides insight into the facilitators’ strategies for encouraging the production of shared goals and artifacts, and the organizational culture that promotes collaborative work.
Une communauté d’apprentissage professionnelle (CAP) représente une des stratégies les plus prometteuses pour mettre en œuvre des changements dans les pratiques pédagogiques visant l’amélioration du rendement académique et le bienêtre de tous les élèves. Cette étude qualitative de cas a porté sur le rôle de l’animateur des CAPs dans le développement et la direction de CAPs mixtes (en ligne et en face à face) composées de membres de districts scolaires en Ontario. La recherche a impliqué une analyse de documents (36 réflexions de la part de 6 animateurs), des séances d’observation et une entrevue semi-structurée, à questions ouvertes et d’une durée de deux heures auprès de 6 formateurs en facilitation associés à la Fédération des enseignantes et des enseignants de l’élémentaire de l’Ontario. Les animateurs ont partagé le leadership avec les membres des CAPs de sorte à développer des cultures de collaboration, et des objectifs et des artéfacts partagés. De plus, les animateurs ont servi de guides pendant le dialogue et la présentation de questions ouvertes visant la réflexion approfondie et la recherche. Ils ont organisé des rencontres, établi les délais, suivi les progrès accomplis et, pour promouvoir la participation, contacté les membres entre les rencontres. Cette recherche offre des connaissances approfondies sur les stratégies qu’emploient les animateurs pour stimuler la production d’objectifs et d’artéfacts partagés ainsi que le développement d’une culture organisationnelle favorisant la collaboration.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA COPYRIGHT LICENSE AND PUBLICATION AGREEMENT
If accepted, authors will be asked to sign a copyright agreement with the following points:
A. Where there is any inconsistency between this Copyright License and Publication Agreement and any other document or agreement in relation to the same subject matter, the terms of this Agreement shall govern.
B. This document sets out the rights you are granting in relation to publication of your article, book review, or research note entitled (the “Article”) through inclusion in the academic journal titled Alberta Journal of Educational Research (the “Journal”) published through the Faculty of Education, representing the Governors of the University of Alberta (the “Journal Editor”).
C. There will be no payment to you for this publication and grant of rights. In consideration of the agreement to publish the Article in the Journal:
1. You are warranting that:
- the content of the Article is your original work, and its content does not contain any material infringing the copyright of others; or, where the Article is not entirely your original work, you have obtained all necessary permissions in writing to grant the rights you are giving in this agreement;
- the content of the Article does not contain any material that is defamatory of, or violates the privacy rights of, or discloses the confidential information of, any other person;
- the Article has not been published elsewhere in whole or in part, and you will not allow publication of the Article elsewhere without the consent of the Journal Editor;
- the names of all co-authors and contributors to the Article are:
2. You agree to license the copyright in the Article to the Journal Editor, on a worldwide, perpetual, royalty free basis; and to the extent required by the terms of this agreement. You shall retain the right at all times to be acknowledged as the/an author of the Article.
3. You further agree that the Journal Editor has the entitlement to deal with the Article as the Journal Editor sees fit, and including in the following manner;
- The right to print, publish, market, communicate and distribute the Article and the Journal, in this and any subsequent editions, in all media (including electronic media), in all languages, and in all territories, ing the full term of copyright, and including any form of the Article separated from the Journal, such as in a database, abstract, offprint, translation or otherwise, and to authorize third parties to do so;
- The right to register copyright of the Journal;
- The right to edit the Article, to conform to editorial policy as the Journal Editor sees fit.
4. If any co-author or contributor to the Article does not sign this agreement, the Journal Editor reserves the right to refuse to publish the Article.