Roles of a Personal Learning Community

RolesofaPersonalLearningCommunity
EmilyHallett
EDU600TeacherasaLeader
UniversityofNewEngland

Roles of a Personal Learning Community

Theroleofateacheristoencourage,motivateandeducate.Asaneducator
myself,IfindthatIstrivetoshowthesequalitiesdaily.Ialwaysaskmyselfwhile
workingwithastudent,amIencouragingthem,amIhelpingthemunderstandthis
properly,andamcommunicatingwell?Theneedtoselfcheckshowsagreatqualityofa
teacherlearner.Ateacherlearnerissomethingeveryteachershouldendeavortobe.As
studentsevolvebylearningdifferentlyteachersneedtoevolvetoteachdifferently.
WhenteachersgatherintheirPersonalLearningCommunitysitisagreatopportunityto
evolveandworktogether.WorkinginaPLCisanopportunityforeveryteachertotry
theirbesttoeducatethemselveswithothersifamethodisnotworkingorstudent
learningisnotoccurring.Ateachershouldbeopentocriticism,humble,selfreflective
andbeateamplayer.ThesequalitiesareusefulwhileworkinginaPLC.Teachersshould
getalongandbeopentoanynewideastohelptheirstudents.ThemainideaofaPLCis
toimprovestudentlearning.
Theroleofaprincipalistomotivateandmanagestaff.Aprincipalshouldbe
willingtositandlisten.Theyshouldalsobeopentocriticism.Aprincipalthatisopento
listenandlearnfromtheirstaffisavaluableassettoanyschoolcommunity.Tobea
leadermeanstoworkhardathelpingothersandmakingideasbecomereality.Aprincipal
shouldaddressthestaffneeds,thestudentsneeds,andtheschoolsneeds.Ifthelights
needtobeturnedoninthehallway,theprincipalisresponsibleformakingithappen.If
thestaffneedstimetomeetanddiscussissuesorcollaboratetheprincipalneedstomake
ithappen.AccordingtoDufour(2008),itdiscusses,ifaprincipalasksteachersto
collaboratetheprincipalalsoneedstocreateastructurefortheteacherstocollaborate.A

Roles of a Personal Learning Community

principalshouldmaketheirstafffeelvaluedandrespected.Ifthestaffrespectsand
valuestheprincipletheschoolwillmeshtogetherverywell.Thefishalwaysrotsfrom
thehead,(S.Marcoux,personalcommunication,June20,2007),thisisasayingmy
summerbossalwayssays.Ibelieveittobetrue.Iftheleaderisworkinghardthestaff
willfollow.Theharderaleader,orprincipal,workstomakethingshappenfortheirstaff
themorerespecttheleaderwillreceive.
Boththeteacherandtheprincipalplaykeypartstowardaschoolbecominga
PLC.IntheMemorialSchool,inMedwayMA,theprincipalisnotoverlyinvolvedinthe
PLCprocess.WehaveaPLCcoach.Thecoachleadsthemeetings,takesthenotes,and
createstheagenda.OurprincipalwillattendaPLCmeetingaboutonceamonth.Some
instancestheprincipalwillaskforaspecificagenda,othertimestheteachersmayhelp
thecoachcreatetheagenda.InourschooltherearesixPLCgroups,whichmeansthereis
ameetingeverydayandtwoononeday.Itisdifficultforaprincipaltoattendsixhours
ofPLCeveryweekwhentherearemanythingsaprincipalisresponsiblefor.Ibelieve
attendingonceamonthisappropriate.ThePLCcoachwillsendthePLCnotestothe
principal;thereforetheprincipalisawareofthetopicsthatarebeingdiscussedandwhat
occurredduringthePLC.
TheteachersroleinourPLCsistoworktogetherwiththeirSMARTgoals,
whichaccordingtoDufourare(strategicandspecific,measurable,attainable,results
oriented,andtimebound)(p.295).Eachmeeting,theteacherskeepworkingonnew
ideasandconceptstohelptheirstudents.Currentlyourteachersareworkingonnew
waystohelpourstudentswiththeiropinionwriting.Thestudentsarestrugglingtofind

Roles of a Personal Learning Community

andshowevidencetobackuptheiropinionontheirfavoritecharacterinabook.When
theteachersmeetthisweek,theywillproblemsolvehowtohelpourstudentsachieve
successinopinionwriting.
IdonothaveanysuggestionstomakeforourschoolsPLCgroups.Idonot
participateinthem;thereforIamunawareastohoweachoneiscorrectlyrun.Inmy
interviewingofcolleaguesIonlytalkedwith2ndgradeteachers.Ireceivedapositive
vibe.WitnessingtheaccountsfirsthandIcansayPLCsarefunctioningwell.Aprincipal
andateacher,bothextremelyimportantfigures,mustworktogetherinallaspectsof
educationtohelpthestudents.

Roles of a Personal Learning Community

Resources
DuFour,R.,DuFour,R.&Eaker,R.(2008).
Revisitingprofessionallearningcommunitiesatwork:newinsightsforimproving
schools.Bloomington,IN:SolutionTreePress.