PLC How to organize a PLC

Rationale for the activity

A PLC is an artificial construct and has to be established by a group teachers who are interested (or who have been asked to) create a PLC amongst themselves. Though the interactions amongst teachers in the PLC should be voluntary and need based, there will also be a need for active facilitation by the DRT to help make PLC participation easy and beneficial for the teachers. Any academic habit takes time and effort to develop and PLC participation also requires such efforts.

Outcomes of the activity

1. Creation of a PLC and enrolling members on a group.
2. Groups which have significant participation of members and supported learning

Keywords/vocabulary

Democratic processes, Rotational responsibilities, Autonomous space, Interactions, bonding, relationships.

Mandatory reading material and desirable which can be also self-study material)

Virtual learning networks

Transaction of the Activity(training design)/Methodology for carrying out the activity

1. Identify the cohort (in our case, the English teachers in the district, can be organized in different ways indicated)
   1. subjects taught (English)
   2. areas of interest to learn (such as inclusive education or gender)
   3. in a geography (cluster/block/district)
   4. By grades / levels taught (LPS, HP, HS) – can be at a cluster level for LPS and HPS and at a block level for HS. Or a level higher if that seems more apt
   5. A second type of PLC can be organized by a ELT with the parents of students in her class (can be by class or section). This PLC can be used for sharing understanding about students and enlisting parents support and partnership in the learning processes.
2. Create a phone group on a platform like Telegram or WhatsApp.
3. Enroll teachers as members or share invite for them to enroll
4. Create a discussion on the group name. It need not necessarily be a simple one like 'XXX Block High School English Teachers Group'. It can be a creative phrase or based on name of a famous writer etc.
5. Design the 'Community management' processes
   1. appoint capable person as group admin (respected teacher who can create a sense of fraternity amongst the teachers)
   2. developing rules and guidelines for interactions. (DRT to evolve a sample set of such rules)
   3. alerting members about importance of following rules and guidelines
   4. backing up of resources that is shared in the community on a resource repository (can be a cloud repository like Diksha, or a Google Drive or a Wikieducator domain etc.
6. Initial face to face interactions is necessary to build some basic bonding amongst the PLC members.
   1. Online interactions should be encouraged - in terms of sharing messages, resources on the group
   2. Different roles for moderation, initiating discussions, responding can be identified and teachers can take the responsibility by rotation
   3. Teachers must be constantly encouraged to share/post. Occasional awards for teachers who share regularly, benefitting their colleagues, can be thought of

Reflection about the activity (how, why, what it helps the learner/trainee)

1. Review the evolution of norms by the group - how democratic was the process? Did all teachers participate? Were all teacher's views considered respectfully? How were disagreements dealt with?
2. How are the Group facilitators (admins) appointed? What are their roles? Is this a rotational responsibility? How was the process of deciding?

Assessment (two levels: self-assessment by trainee and Assessment by Trainer)

1. This activity has no formal assessment.

Resources relating to activity (used in the module and also additional)

Rules / norms for your PLC - maintain a professional learning environment (Hygiene, discipline)

Rules/norms to encourage academic participation - sharing/seekinig