Overcoming barriers to PLCs: Lack of collaboration andor buy-in

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Lack of Collaboration and/or Buy-In

Buy-In

Buy-in is an important component to any initiative. What are some reasons that educators can be reluctant? What are some mechanisms to help increase buy-in?

Help teachers to understand the necessity of seeing the big picture, and recognizing how everything works together as part of a whole. (Ainsworth, 2010)

Recommendations from Black et al (2003)

Teachers need motivation and justification if they are expected to take on the burdens of change.

Start with a small group as the focus group so as to increase buy-in of the rest of the staff.

Many times lack of buy-in is due in part to new ideas or research not being relevant to the teacher or the teachers entire demographic of students that he/she teaches.

Daily practice runs much differently (unpredictable and veer off the trajectory of the proposed lesson plan) than the controlled conditions of PLCs.

Recommendations from Black et al (2003) cont...

The diversity in classrooms calls for differentiation, which can sometimes be hard to do; begging for a proposed starting point.

Teachers want practices they can take ownership of, and they demonstrate ownership by successful implementation. Therefore, teachers need practices that can be adapted to fit their beliefs, needs, and their students needs.

Do not become offended or discouraged, but rather provide alternatives for teachers to try when putting the PLC material into practice.

Educators are more likely to support initiatives that follows clear theoretical construct; an idea highly regarded as how things should be done.

Collaboration

Collaboration should be a natural and automatic responsibility of teachers.

PLCs are based on a culture of collaboration; wherein teachers allow the terms mine and your to evaporate, and migrate, instead towards the term our; demonstrating an understanding that it is impossible for teachers who work in isolation to ensure high levels of learning for all students.

Bailey and Jakicic (2012)

Four Pillar Practices for Leading Adult Learners:

Teaming - Engaging in teams provides adults with opportunities to question their own and other people's philosophies and assumptions about leadership, teaching, and learning.

Providing Adults with Leadership Roles - In assuming leadership roles, adults are invited to share power and decision-making authority.

Engaging in Collegial Inquiry - Shared dialogue that involves reflecting on ones assumptions, values, commitments, and convictions with others as part of the learning process.

Mentoring - Mentoring creates an opportunity for adults to broaden perspectives, examine assumptions and beliefs, and share expertise toward supporting growth.(Drago-Severson, 2009)

You may not necessarily be the one experiencing roadblocks to participation in PLCs. However, you may have a colleague that you were prompted to reflect on as you read through the information in this roadblock section of Lack of Collaboration and/or Buy-In. Regardless of who this roadblock pertains to you should now be able to:

Recognize there is necessity in seeing the big picture and understanding how everything works together as part of a whole.Understand what are some of the reasons for lack of buy-in, and things that can be done to increase buy-in.Identify collaborative language (our instead of mine or your).Identify the Four Pillar Practices of facilitating collaboration for Adult Learners.

As a result, you should be better equipped to advocate for yourself or your colleague(s) to increase participation in PLCs by constructing a plan of action utilizing the information from this section. Remember the ultimate goal of PLCs is collaboration and sharing of professional knowledge and experience to help each other grow both personally and professionally.

References

Ainsworth, L. (2010). Rigorous Curriculum Design: How to Create Curricular Units of Study that Align Standards, Instruction, and Assessment. Englewood, CO: Leadership and Learning Center. Bailey, K., & Jakicic, C. (2012). Common formative assessment: A toolkit for professional learning communities at WorkTM. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. Black, P. J. (2003). Assessment for learning: Putting it into practice. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Drago-Severson, E. (2009). Leading adult learning: Supporting adult development in our schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.