Collaborative Action Research for Professional Learning Communities

This book is designed to assist individual teachers, groups of teachers, and school leaders who work with professional learning community (PLC) teams to become disciplined and deliberative with data as they design and implement program improvements to enhance student learning. The evidence suggests that when constant, high-quality collaborative inquiry becomes the norm in a PLC, not only do students prosper but the school culture becomes enriched and teachers enjoy greater professional satisfaction. In dysfunctional organizations, norms and habits of behavior work counter to goals. In contrast, a PLC has a tight functional culture. Its members are bound by a commitment to shared norms, values, and behaviors. One nurtures a functional culture by reinforcing those habitual behaviors or norms. This book discusses five habits of inquiry that contribute to successful professional learning and provides detailed steps for developing each of them. Habit of Inquiry 1: Clarifying a Shared Vision for Success. The essence of this habit is regular discussion, both formally and informally, of valued outcomes. Habit of Inquiry 2: Articulating Theories of Action. Research needs to be guided by a framework or theory. This habit of inquiry shows how to use group action planning to develop theories of action that can be displayed visually, in the form of graphics. Habit of Inquiry 3: Acting Purposefully While Collecting Data. This habit of inquiry involves using specific strategies and tools when collecting data for research that will uncover the story embedded in the data. . Habit of Inquiry 4: Analyzing Data Collaboratively. This habit of inquiry provides processes for analyzing data collectively. Habit of Inquiry 5: Informed Team Action Planning. Based upon the thoughtful collaborative work of analyzing the data, learning communities revise the original theory of action and share the results with the community.