Professional learning communities
At American School Macedonia we acknowledge that the fundamental purpose of our school is to help all students ‘to embrace learning to the fullest extent’ (School Mission), and therefore, we examine our practices in light of their impact on learning.
To ensure continuous professional growth of all staff, the school has developed a highly effective Professional Learning Community (PLC) to ensure the highest quality of instruction is afforded to every student. In addition, students will receive timely, research-based instructional strategies.
The criteria as to what the PLC sessions should be about is left to the teachers to decide. The first general staff meeting of each academic year has a point that calls for PLC sessions that have been decided by the full-time teachers during their working meetings in June and July, who is willing to present a PLC, and an approximate timescale for the PLCs over the course of the year. The list can be revised and/or expanded with suggestions coming from other teachers as well. At times, a PLC session topic may be suggested by the Principal based on data that the school has obtained. In addition, data/feedback that the school has obtained from various sources (Curriculum and Survey Committees, discussions with stakeholder groups, etc.) will also give clear indicators as to what would be the most effective topics for PLCs.
We also encourage teachers to present PLCs on topics that are of interest to them and maybe of use within the school. This assists in building a sense of community amongst the teaching staff, bolsters confidence, and generates peer discussion.
The Teachers’ Calendar, in Google Workspace, has links to all PLCs and we find that this is a useful tool for all teachers. Links to all documents used in the PLCs are also available for download. Please speak with our IT staff to be given access to the Teachers’ Calendar.
Note:
PLCs are not a mere course our teachers take. PLCs are HOW WE OPERATE collectively to ensure all students achieve. We just don’t work collaboratively during the meeting, it is an ongoing collaboration to help teachers and students improve. Our students improve as much as we improve.