Professional Learning Communities Writ Large

31 Fullan, Michael 2005 Professional Learning Communities Writ Large In this article, education researcher Michael Fullan brings his ideas about educational leadership and the school change process to bear on professional learning communities. Fullan acknowledges there is an increasingly clear picture of the nature and importance of schools that function as professional learning communities, but he contends such schools will remain "rare and transitory" if the larger system of education is not examined and improved. He offers the concept of "tri-level" development as the best strategy to increase the capacity of the larger system to build and sustain PLCs. The key to the strategy's success is "the ability of leaders to develop other leaders," Fullan says in this chapter written for "On Common Ground,"a new book co-edited by Rick DuFour. Fullan cautions that his call for systems change does not absolve individual educators "from personal responsibility for doing what they can to bring about meaningful change in their own setting." (272k PDF File) Fullan, M. (2005).  Professional Learning Communities Writ Large.  On Common Ground (DuFour).  Retrieved April 25, 2008 from http://www.pil.in.th/fullan/Recommended%20Reading/LearningCommunities.pdf   http://www.pil.in.th/fullan/Recommended%20Reading/LearningCommunities.pdf