Critical Friends

Video Transcription

Hi. My name is Ashley, and this lesson is titled Critical Friends. In today's lesson, we will define professional learning communities and critical friends groups. Then we'll look at the protocols for critical friends.

What are professional learning communities? According to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, a professional learning community, or PLC, is a group of educators that have the following traits. Everything the group does is centered on enhancing student learning. This can involve many different areas, such as incorporation of technology, improving instruction, the use of formative and summative assessments-- and the list goes on.

Members of the PLC can consider the challenges of students in specific groups, such as students with disabilities or gifted students. Or they can focus on one individual student. PLC members also create a collaborative environment. Teachers openly share their ideas and concerns for student engagement, lesson plans and activities, implementing technology, assessments, and so on. And lastly, the PLC group is results-oriented. The group is constantly reviewing assessment data to determine what is working for students in the classroom and what is not.

What are critical friends groups? Critical friends groups as a type of PLC. It is similar to a traditional PLC in that the main focus is student learning. They meet frequently to discuss student learning goals and reflect on teaching practices. They review teacher and student work to measure goals. Yet, there are some differences between critical friends groups.

The critical friends group members challenge one another by asking the hard questions to create an open and honest dialogue of their teaching practices. This dialogue helps them to think reflectively, and as a result, improves their instructional practices and how they impact student learning. Next, meetings are run by protocol. This means there's a specific format that the meeting must follow in order to create meaningful communication, solve problems, and improve learning.

Depending on the specific goal, of the group different protocols may be used. The protocol is most often guided by an instructional coach. The idea of critical friends members challenging each other and following protocol is to ensure that conversation is ongoing, productive, and each member is able to share his or her own ideas in order to avoid groupthink, where no one really wants to disagree or create conflict-- therefore, many ideas are not shared or explored. Critical friends groups work to do the exact opposite, where everyone shares their ideas and benefits from the discussion.

What are the protocols for critical friends? Earlier, we mentioned that meetings of critical fringe groups are run by protocol. This protocol gives structure so that the focus remains clear. Some protocols may include investigating teaching, learning and assessment, reviewing data, addressing professional challenges, and observing others.

Since we are discussing coaching, let's look at a few protocols in the category of observing others. In the collaborative ghost walk protocol, members set a purpose for their walk around the school. For example, we hope to see examples of critical thinking as we walk through our school building. Evidence we are looking for is inquiry in the classroom and student dialogue demonstrating problem solving.

The group quietly walks through the school, making notes and collecting evidence. They return back to the group, and compare their findings, and make conclusions. In the first classroom visit protocol, teacher A is having issues with a disruptive student. She seeks assistance from teacher B. Teacher A explains the problem that she's having and asks to observe teacher B to gain insight or managing this behavior. The purpose of this observation is so that teacher A may learn new strategies that can be implemented in her classroom.

Lastly, let's take a look at the peer coaching observer as a coach protocol. And this protocol, two teachers have decided to coach one another. Before the observation takes place, the first teacher who will be coached gives the other teacher a focus list of areas to pay special attention to. Once the observation has been completed, the two meet again, this time to discuss what occurred. The observer only provides what was seen, and no opinions are included. Then the teacher uses this information to reflect on her teaching practices, and decides how and what changes need to be made.

Let's recap what we have discussed in today's lesson. We first define professional learning communities as groups of educators that are focused on students. They are collaborative and driven by results. A critical friends group is an example of a PLC, but is different in that its members challenge one another with the hard questions, and their meetings are run by protocols. We looked at three examples of protocols in the category of observing others. These protocols give structure so that the emphasis can be given to only the task at hand.

As you reflect on this information, visit the following sites to learn more about critical friends groups and protocols. To dive a little deeper and learn how to apply this information, be sure to check out the additional resources section associated with this video. This is where you'll find links targeted toward helping you discover more ways to apply this course material.