An Ideal Learning Community: PLC and Teacher Empowerment
Usually teachers are habituated to perform his or her duties individually within the work place. But in the last decade of twenty century this old approach turn into modern approach that is more effective for the teacher professional development through creating collaboration, sharing ideas and classroom practices etc. In this effective school environment essay this topic will be considered within the idea of teacher motivarion in students' education process.
Stroll, Bolam, Memahon, Wallace and Thomas found that teachers globally faced various major challenges to sustain progress on time to time and share progress throughout total organization. Modern approach of learning and teaching is appeared to need to cope with the effect of globally changed world. To be triumphant in this situation the whole organization like teaches, students, principal, staff etc. are required to work and learn collectively for improving organizational goal.
On the other hand, Rosenholty assert that effective school environment plays a vital role to motivate educators’ collaboration which can help teachers professional development by sharing and analyzing views and ideas, knowledge, institutional practices etc. Rosenholty said that there exist a relationship between pupils’ improvement and achievement and it is related with spreading views and upgrading organizational practices.
According to DuFour professional learning become successful when teachers collaboration would be based on classroom practices that guide to progress teachers as well as pupils learning. According to Nader, “motivation is the extent to which perseverance attempt is administered toward an aim”.
Hord Shirley mentioned that educators are as sole proprietors, teammates, collaborative, workers, learners as well as learning professional. He also said that PLC (Professional Learning Community) helps to sustain continuous professional development which creates teaching quality of the teachers and thus PLC has become most popular phenomena all over the world now a day. With PLC, educators are usually met sharing their success and failures taking team teaching and working collectively with the group members on many instructional techniques and plans. PLC is ``the professionals in a school are gathering as a team in community, for the sake of teaching and learning’’. Finally he said that a real PLC is a process of arranging the educational team to participate in intentional and collegial learning.
Review of Related Studies
Han and Yin mentioned that beginning research upon educator motivation was launched towards some ordinary interests for the beginning educator who took teaching as a profession but now a days, educating motivation is being launched to endure educating has been improved. Han and Yin believed that recent investigation on teachers’ motivation would help educators in choosing their professions, studying learning and teaching along with occupational promise also. They also describe that the importance of teacher motivation is self-apparent and it is closely connected with pupils’ motivation, instructional improvement, teaching practice, educators’ psychological satisfaction and welfare. So, teacher motivation is useful for Principals to decide how to evoke potential educators and how to sustain them in educating and learning. There exist a deep relationship between teachers motivation and student motivation because teacher motivation which is important element to intensity classroom effectiveness for the students in terms of their learning process and outcomes. Nader explained that Leaders are driven by a need for success and achievement leaders usually pursue either a despotic and negotiate style on team based decision making style. Some subordinate and situational factors like personal need environment greatly affect the individual success along with make the scope for triumphant leadership. Principals should have some qualities which supply emotional and social aid to the team members by listening, recognizing, group creating assisting another followers among the team.
Carol Dweck mentions that there are two types of motivational goals one is performance goal and other is learning goal. Performance goal which gives extrinsic rewards help the individual to achieve positive judgment from his peers, controllers or administrations. On the other hand, learning goal which come from extrinsic and intrinsic reward improve one’s capability by using feedback and also provide for further learning which is appeared as a lifelong process to the actors and thus actor produce or generate optimum levels of teachers motivation. Nader mentioned that if any institution confess the personal desire and supply opportunities for gratification, institutional performance would be improved and then person’s intrinsic motivation turned into extrinsic motivation. People who are persuaded by self-actualization through intrinsic motivation they become more acceptable within themselves, others and so far as reality also. He also mentions that intrinsic motivation is more important than that of extrinsic motivation or value.
Butler and Shibaz, Han, Yan and Wang, Kunter, Retelsdorf, Butler, Streblow and Schiefele described that suitable instruction of teacher can ensure achieving pupils learning outcomes teaching style affect its effectiveness, educator perspectives to teaching and educator motivational factors are closely inter related to educating exercise and principal’s behaviors. Educators’ self-efficacy play a vital role to motivating teachers’ proficiency . Wheneducators achieve highest level of self-efficacy, they lean to reveal supreme stages of planning and institution , they become open minded which explore new ideas and thoughts and more eagerness to examine with recent technique , working sufficient time with their pupils and colleagues , escalate their attempts while their rendering decline gradually in term of achieving the goals and lasting further.
Effectiveness of PLC and Teacher Motivation on Effective School Environment
Several literatures identified the possible effectiveness of PLC and teachers motivation. Hord mentioned five features of PLC that represents its effectiveness including share values and vision, collective responsibility, reflective professional inquiry, supportive collaboration among the educators , group and personal teaching and learning whereas it was reported that PLC focus on teachers practices on the basis of school related real problems faced by the school educators and leaders, reduce educators isolation, create forum that can share data, materials and tools, connect the gap between theory, practices as well as policy and develop cost-effective model of occupational progress the assist to motivate teachers as well as their service satisfaction. On the other hand motivated teachers help to improve pupils’ existence knowledge, need for both educators and pupils by ensuring congenial inside and outside environment of the organization.
Challenges to the Implementation of PLC and Teachers Motivation
There are some challenges towards teachers change in developing PLC of Blossom school in Hong Kong are as following: in creation of new structure, building of collaborative culture, Interactive learning activities, changing beliefs and practices, reforming school-based curriculum, hybrid teaching and Static, constructivist learning as well as diverse role of educators.
The majority teachers are facing to take their prevailing personal beliefs and practices, maintaining continuous communication among the colleagues, hearing multiple views and thoughts from others, sharing new ICT skill and knowledge, taking part with annual examination routine committee, ensuring collegiality, taking problem solving action plan, sharing new experiences, creating democratize leadership among their colleague, arranging in house training about digital content development, achieving new understanding regarding school basis curriculum, innovative and constructivist teaching and learning, arranging seminars and symposium frequently, building knowledge based society and teachers multiple roles, creating extrinsic and intrinsic motivation of the teachers. Bolam ,Memahon, Stroll ,Thomas and Wallace mentioned some challenges in their study including bureaucratic and authoritative organizational structure, dominant culture, internal and external environments, student politics, time, space, networks support etc.
Suggestions for Improving Professional Learning Community for Creating Effective School Environment
A visionary, dynamics and optimistic principal along with secretary of the teachers’ council to build up and share democratize leadership among their colleagues and also to assist for the development of the PLC. Alam and Farid mentioned that govt. and college administrations will be arranged workshop, motivational training programme at regular intervals of time that will help the teachers to acquire update subject based knowledge and educators skill efficiency. Young teachers share their innovative views in the staff council meeting so that principal can take necessary actions regarding its proper implementation. Principal also create an opportunity to the teachers to reduce their isolation. School embedded activities including workshops, seminars, mentoring, peer teaching, coaching, network building among inside and outer teachers, cooperative research etc. should be increase for improving effective PLC.
It is reported that govt. and college administrators will be arranged workshop, motivational training programme at regular intervals of time that will help the teachers to acquire update subject based knowledge and educators skill efficiency. Lack of teachers’ motivation is another important challenge in implementation of PLC in colleges. Although all teachers have recruited the teaching profession given in the same competitive examination but it is cruel reality that teachers social status, rank, opportunity, promotion system etc. are comparatively lower and discriminatory than others cadre.
Conclusion
Teacher motivation is the foundation in independence and it attempt to generating new concepts, attainment of proper trust worthily levels as well as inherent work constituent. Teacher motivarion plays the key role in creating . PLC can be defined as a team of teachers who work and share knowledge, beliefs, ideas, thoughts, norms, values, mission, vision etc. with each other. PLC improve educators in learning teaching and enable them contribute to the learning community. In other words: Professional Learning Community can be helpful fro creating an effective school environment.
