LEAP CONFERENCE 3

LEAP Conference 2016

Sydney Masonic Centre

Creating and sustaining effective PLCs in your school

PLCs NSW DET- principals are grouped purposefully by leaders

How do we as school leaders, open the eyes of our political leaders to the real PLCs that are required in schools.

 Teachers need to have a voice and pursue them as a professional group.

We have to show that we make a difference  and "shout out" our success - proving to politicians that we are capable of shaping education policy.

How are we represented? We are divided in many ways 62 principal associations. Start saying that we are accountable to make a difference

Teacher associations have been established to defend the industrial relations of schools - where are the representatives who lobby the professional practice.

Theory and practice: how do we remain organic in developing PLCs but also remain focused on whole school goals - fine balance what does it look like in schools?

Standardisation and reforms have not delivered the results the accountability can be run into the ground.

As a profession is to balance the prescription with the laize fare approach.

Plc can be used as school improvement- starting with a structure, process to be followed, on an understanding that it can be flexible and adaptive to the improvement on students learning.

The miso level- rich network of partnership and connections. Not top down, bottom up or middle.

How do standards work within prof dev?

Managing people, building capacity - research tells us that teachers don't resist support - but schools have not supported processes that actually mobilise staff to feel safe to take chances in their practice to test if they can help make a difference to their students.

What's behind the resistance- usually it is fear- how do we chunk it so staff feel supported to succeed.

John Hattie says that he finds that expert teachers do not want to be "disrupted" how do we encourage expertise to be shared? How are they privileged?

How do we onboard new graduates?

More collaborative, they are used to work in and learning from each other.

The lead teachers are energised with new graduates.

Teacher PL needs to be differentiated.

Teachers are the best critique's.. If you are not asking questions, co- planning, co- teach, critique - that is PLCs. We need to change from we can run our school and teach as we wish, to we have a right to collaborate and measure our impact.

Collective therapy that we trust and can challenge us and differ from our opinion - the hard edge is essential 

Parent engagement- how do they feel about innovation and change in schools?

Sense of desperation from parents- something is wrong with my child but the school is not helping

Maybe it's time to reeducate parents on learning- they do not know what we are as a profession - how do we help parents know what learning looks like?