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Learning Theory and Concepts

Professional Learning Community

Adult and Lifelong Learning Theories

A professional learning community, usually abbreviated PLC, is a method for fostering collaborative learning among colleagues within a particular work environment or field. In schools it is commonly used as a way to organize teachers into working groups built around practice-based professional learning.

Facts
Core Claim
Shirley Hord's widely used 1997 definition describes a professional learning community as extending classroom practice into the community, bringing community personnel into the school to enhance curriculum and learning tasks, and engaging students, teachers and administrators simultaneously in learning. 1
Origin Year
1995 1
The phrase entered wider use after Shirley Hord's 1997 white paper and Richard DuFour and Robert Eaker's 1998 book; 1995 marks its first documented use applied to schools, by Charles B. Myers and Lynn K. Myers.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Professional Learning Community
Wikipedia
  • History section
    Charles B. Myers and Lynn K. Myers used the phrase professional learning community in relation to schools in their 1995 book The Professional Educator: A New Introduction to Teaching and Schools
  • Definitions section, quoting Hord's 1997 definition
    extending classroom practice into the community; bringing community personnel into the school to enhance the curriculum and learning tasks for students; or engaging students, teachers, and administrators simultaneously in learning
  • In Group: Reflective and Work-Based Professional Learning, Lead
    A professional learning community (PLC) is a method to foster collaborative learning among colleagues within a particular work environment or field.
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