The Value of Professional Learning Communities

The study on schools carried out by Sigurðardóttir (2010) explicitly illustrates the importance and value of PLCs in enhancing school effectiveness, especially the improved performance of students, as well as synergy among the teaching and non-teaching staff. Notably, the article identifies nine crucial characteristics of PLCs and establishes a relationship between them and the schools’ effectiveness. One particular point that makes the article worth reading as an able guide to researching on the value of PLCs is that it employs two sets of studies on the sample population, which are correlational and experimental. A combined analysis of the results derived from these two sets of studies is sufficiently reliable and puts the paper above others that have also targeted the same area of discussion.

Basically, the author of the article posits that there is a strong correlation between the level of a school as a professional learning community and its effectiveness. Additionally, it emphasizes that autonomy, interdependency, work harmony, and synergy are important contributors to the effectiveness of a school, as they help in bettering the work environment by promoting the spirit of collaboration among teachers, students, and the support staff (Sigurðardóttir 2010).

Reference

Sigurðardóttir, A. (2010). Professional Learning Community in Relation to School Effectiveness. Scandinavian Journal Of Educational Research, 54(5), 395-412. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=54594660&site=eds-live.