Professional Learning Communities Interview_Adams_7-14-2023
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PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES INTERVIEW 1
Professional Learning Communities Interview
Melanie Adams
LSUS EDL 700: Professional Learning Communities
July 14, 2023
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES INTERVIEW 2
Professional Learning Communities Interview
The professional that was interviewed was Chelsea Gill, principal for Cascade Virtual Academy (CVA) Grades K-8. I was also able to interview Mary Blazer, Special Education (SE) Administrator for Cascade Virtual Academy, Destination Career Academy of Oregon, and The Insight School of Oregon-Painted Hills. All three of these schools are a part of K12 online school, known as OOS-Online Oregon Schools. Chelsea Gill and Mary Blazer work together to help keep the school running smoothly. I had originally chosen to interview Chelsea, however, due to her summer schedule, I did not hear back from her in a timely manner, so I had Mary as a back up just in case I wasn’t able to connect with Chelsea. Turns out, that I was able to interview
both. Chelsea has been the principal at CVA for 2 years. She had a year previous experience at another virtual academy as well has 10+ years as a teacher. Mary has been a special education teacher for 3 years, prior to her taking on the role as administrator in the last school year. Prior to
being a special education teacher, she worked as a liaison for helping families be successful in our virtual school as well as an English teacher for high school at her local brick-n-mortar school. Within a virtual school, PLC’s or Professional Learning Communities look a little different, however they serve the same purpose as those within a traditional school. Teachers within our school community are always learning new techniques and procedures to ensure that every student’s needs are being met to the best of their abilities. Chelsea and Mary are no exception to this when they try and create a PLC schedule and training. Chelsea has known what PLC is for 10 years or more, as she learned about it while she was student teaching. Mary, on the
other hand is still learning about it, as it was not around (with this specific naming) when she first obtained her teaching license. Chelsea believes that professional learning communities is the collaboration approach to professional development and growth among educators. This means that it is a structured framework where teachers and administrators come together to share knowledge, ideas, and best practices, with the main goal of improving teaching and learning outcomes within the school. Chelsea explains “As a K-8 Academic Administrator, PLCs play a significant role in my day-to-
day job. They provide a platform that fosters a culture of continuous learning and PD among staff. Specifically, it focuses on facilitating collaboration, promoting a reflective practice among teachers, supports professional growth, and provides an opportunity for me to monitor accountability of initiatives, short- and long-term goals, and creates a sense of community.” (C. Gill, personal communication, July 13, 2023). Chelsea also believes that it is her responsibility to
promote and facilitate PLCs to enhance teaching practices, improve student outcomes, and cultivate a collaborative and supportive learning environment.
Mary’s view on what a PLC is, shows a little different view. Mary states that a true PLC is when school staff/teachers group together within small groups (usually separated by departments), and look at the data collected, discuss the results, and create a learning plan to improve. This also would include a discussion on what is needing improvement and what is the
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES INTERVIEW 3
most important, as we all know that not all issues or areas can be worked on at one time. Her view of PLCs within Special Education (SE) is that “In special education, we do not always show PLC’s looking like general education PLC’s. We should be working in PLCs with the general education teachers, to help within the classroom for students who are on IEPs, however we know that doesn’t always happen. Within the IEP meeting, is where PLC’s shine the most. The SE Teachers has the data and review it with the IEP team meeting. There is then a discussion and what the data is showing. We as a team, with the SE Teacher being the lead, then discuss what areas the data is showing as the weak areas and strong areas. Goals and accommodations are then created from that.” (M. Blazer, personal communication, July 13, 2023). Mary believes that for SE alone, as a department, PLCs shine within the work done to create the IEP for each student and is the best way to individualize all aspects of a student’s learning. PLCs are usually utilized weekly within the general education, however, Chelsea did state that this past school year, there was as much time dedicated to them, as there should have been. This is an area that she plans to work on for the upcoming school year. There are times that
she does have some minor issues with getting all the teachers on board with the PLCs. When this
happens, she will talk with that person individually and explain the benefits of what the PLC will
have. “There is usually always one person who isn’t onboard at first, and that is usually because it is something new to them and change isn’t something that is easily taken.” (M. Blazer, personal communication, July 13, 2023). Special education PLCs again, are seen more often within an IEP meeting and not at a department or small groups within the department. Therefore,
per Mary, this is an area that isn’t strong within the special education department and is needed to collaborate more with the general education setting/teachers. As with any area that is discussed/used within a school there will always be benefits and challenges among the teams. The agreement between Mary and Chelsea is that the benefits do out weight the challenges, especially if everyone is onboard. Some of the benefits that Mary and Chelsea agree on from having a PLC is that the collaboration and shared expertise can help to problem solve situations and create solutions to areas that are weak. Teachers and specialists working together can improve instructional practices, by using data to ensure that decisions being made are data driven. Patterns can also be seen and will help to create a school environment that can be completely positive, and student need based. Of course, many teachers find it hard to really feel they have a voice, so a positive team atmosphere is needed within the meetings. Many teachers have such full schedules, as well as the administrators, that finding the time to commit to a weekly PLC is hard on everyone. A change in mindset for what is best for the school and the students is needed. Teachers with a mindset that ‘this is boring, and they never
listen to my opinions or what matters to me’ is something that will have to be addressed by administrators or the leader of the PLC group. Everyone should have a say with what is being brought to the meeting. For success for PLC meetings, an administrator is in need of being a strong leader. Chelsea and Mary both have proven to be just that, a strong leader. They both believe that there needs to be a combination of knowledge, experience, skills and personal qualities to be that
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PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES INTERVIEW 4
strong effective leader. Asking questions (surveys) and listening to the teachers is an important part of ensuring the needs of not only the students are being met, but the teachers as well. Communication has a key role with that. Being a strong leader is not for everyone, as there are some that are not able to build relationships with others. The two interviews that I conducted actually gave a lot of insight to the administration of not only the elementary/middle school, but with the special education department. Interviewing Chelsea Gill allowed me to see where she is coming from and what she is envisioning for her teacher’s success. My eight years of being at this school, I have always felt that the special education department isn’t a part of the general education (which they are not, but need to be), and based upon talking with her, she never once mentioned anything about needing to have the special education department included with in any PLCs or even as part of the actual school. I do
not want to assume that she is including the SE Teachers as part of what she would like to see, but her actions speak louder within a school setting. While interviewing Chelsea, she didn’t seem
to be really focused on the interview, therefore I did not feel as if she was really taking this or even myself seriously. She did give some great answers to my questions, however as a school leader, she made me feel as if I was not important. This gave me some feelings that if she isn’t making me feel as this was important, how to the families/students or even teachers within our school really feel.
As for Mary, I was a little surprised with a few of her answers. Mary and I did agree on a lot, as we have worked together a long time prior to her becoming the administrator of the department. She does not believe that PLCs will continue, as this is just a fad for the moment. She also believes that SE department does not need to have actual PLCs, as this is done within an
IEP meeting, however SE Teachers should be included within the general education PLCs. This was a little bit of a shock to have heard, especially coming from an administrator. We both agree that GE and SE are two separate worlds and to best meet the needs of the students and the school, they need to collaborate, interact more as a team and not two separate groups.