Page 58 - Learning for All – A Guide to Effective Assessment and Instruction for All Students, Kindergarten to Grade 12, 2013

56 • Learning for All
A Culture of Collaboration
Educators in a professional learning community understand that they learn and work together to achieve their collective purpose of learning for all. The powerful collaboration that char- acterizes professional learning communities is a systematic process in which educators work together with parents and community partners to analyse and continuously improve their classroom and school practices.
In a professional learning community, educators often work in teams, engaging in an ongoing cycle of exploration into ways of focusing assessment and instruction in their classrooms. This approach promotes deep learning among team members and, in turn, leads to higher levels of student achievement. However, the promise of a professional learning community can be realized only if the process is systematic and school-wide. The success of the process ultimately rests on a collective will to pursue collaborative learning, as well as on the ability of the individual to find personal security and confidence in the process of continuous improvement.
Teams focus their efforts on crucial questions centred on student learning, and develop practical knowledge that reflects that focus, such as identifying learning goals for curriculum planning needs, sharing different kinds of assessment tools, analysing evidence of learning, and developing and sharing instructional strategies and other approaches for improving results. Teams should also develop norms to clarify roles, responsibilities, and relationships among team members. Teams work towards student achievement goals that are linked to school and system goals.
In recent years in Ontario, collaborative teacher inquiry has rapidly become “a commonly held stance within professional practice ... In practice, inquiry engages teachers as learners in critical and creative thinking. It honours openness and flexibility. Through collaborative dialogue, teachers seek emergent possibilities ... Inquiry positions the teacher as an informed practitioner refining planning, instruction and assessment approaches in the continual pursuit of greater precision, personalization and innovation. A focus on student learning drives inquiry.” Based on research and on the practices of Ontario educators, effective teacher inquiry has the following seven characteristics: It is relevant, collaborative, reflective, iterative, reasoned, adaptive, and reciprocal (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010a).
Professional Learning across Departments, Boards, and Regions
• One school board’s Curriculum Department incorporated the Learning for All class profiles into its “Literacy – Collaborative Professional Development” materials for administrators, literacy teachers, and special education resource teachers (SERTs).
• A Professional Learning Cycle strategy was used by one board in its PLCs. Learning for All concepts and approaches were discussed in the context of current school situations, and information about the initiative was shared with the Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC), trustees. principals and vice-principals, and the Program Support Team (board consultants at the elementary and secondary levels). The presentation linked Learning for All to key activities held throughout the board
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