The phrase professional learning community began to be used in the 1990s after Peter Senge's book The Fifth Discipline (1990) had popularized the idea of learning organizations,[1][2]: 2 related to the idea of reflective practice espoused by Donald Schön in books such as The Reflective Turn: Case Studies in and on Educational Practice (1991).
[7] A year later, Richard DuFour and Robert E. Eaker published the book Professional Learning Communities at Work.
While the term "organization" suggests a partnership enhanced by efficiency, expediency, and mutual interests, "community" places greater emphasis on relationships, shared ideals, and a strong culture—all factors that are critical to school improvement.
[10]: 11 In 2005, the Ontario Ministry of Education defined a PLC as "a shared vision for running a school in which everyone can make a contribution, and staff are encouraged to collectively undertake activities and reflection in order to constantly improve their students' performance".
[11]: 53 Michael Fullan has noted that "in the spread of PLCs, we have found that the term travels a lot faster than the concept, a finding common to all innovations.
"[12] There are many core characteristics of PLCs including collective teamwork in which leadership and responsibility for student learning are extensively shared, a focus on reflective inquiry and dialogue among educators, collective emphasis on improving student learning, shared values and norms, and development of common practices and feedback.
[14][15] Based on data they collected in their research for the Center on Organization and Restructuring of Schools, Sharon Kruse, Karen Seashore Louis, and Anthony Bryk developed a three-part framework to describe the critical elements and supportive conditions that are necessary to establish a healthy "professional" culture.
Kruse and colleagues found that "in schools where professional community is strong, teachers work together more effectively, and put more efforts into creating and sustaining opportunities for student learning.
"[14] They also suggested that the social and human resources are more important than the structural conditions in the development of professional community.
[18]: 35 In the book Intentional Interruption: Breaking Down Learning Barriers to Professional Practice, Steven Katz and Lisa Ain Dack identified six mental barriers to learning in PLCs: "we don't think through all possibilities; we focus on confirming our hypotheses and not challenging them; we pay too much attention to things that are vivid; we consider ourselves to be exceptions; we hesitate to take action in a new direction; we don't want others to see our vulnerabilities".
[8] Sue C. Thompson and her colleagues pointed out how many educators often feel that "new ideas that came from someone else without teacher input" are a waste of time and do not qualify as true leadership or support.