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

Outcomes of the activity

Creation of a PLC and enrolling members on a group.

Keywords/vocabulary

Democratic processes, Rotational responsibilities, Autonomous space

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.

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