Creating Communities of Learners: The Interaction of Shared Leadership, Shared Vision, and Supportive Conditions

Abstract

This study examines the preliminary results of a 5-year national study on creating communities of learners, provides findings from teachers and principals at 20 schools, analyzes characteristics of highand low-readiness schools, and discusses the interaction of leadership, vision, values, and the conditions required for professional learning communities (PLCs.) Characteristics of professional learning communities include shared authority and power, a united focus on student learning, collective learning by staff, supportive institutions, and the sharing of personal instructional practices. Effective leadership from the entire school community is needed to implement shared visions and values, and this requires developing the personal capacities of staff, and providing for adequate times and settings for peer dialogue and departmental communication. The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory project, Communities of Continuous Inquiry and Improvement, targets the creation of PLCs with co-developers in the Southeast, Midwest, and Northwest regions of the U.S. The preliminary data clearly suggest schools that have successfully integrated shared leadership, shared vision, and a supportive school culture are much better positioned to create professional learning communities than the less change-ready schools, which lacked similar markers of progress. Further research may reveal particular practices that facilitate integration in these three critical areas. (Contains 15 references.)(TEJ) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Creating Communities of Learners: The Interaction of Shared Leadership, Shared Vision, and Supportive Conditions Jane B. Huffman University of North Texas College of Education P.O. Box 311337 Denton, Texas 76203 940 565-2832 huffman@unt.edu Kristine A. Hipp Cardinal Stritch University College of Education 6801 North Yates Road Milwaukee, WI 53217 414/410-4346 khipp@acs.stritch.edu