Building and Connecting Learning Communities

The Power of Networks for School Improvement
Steven Katz - Director, Aporia Consulting Ltd. and Faculty Member, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto
Lorna M. Earl - University of Toronto, Canada
Sonia Ben Jaafar - Assistant to the Researcher in Residence, Ontario Ministry of Education
Building and Connecting Learning Communities
September 2009 | 136 pages | Corwin
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ISBN: 9781452272726
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ISBN: 9781412966016
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Description

"Taking your school from great to greater—this compelling book gives you tools to use with staff for reflecting on and refining professional practices. You and your team will find tools for taking learners to the next level of improvement!"
—Lynn A. Kaszynski, Principal
Harrison Street Elementary School, Sunbury, OH

Networked learning communities: A powerful school improvement strategy for school leaders!

Ideal for school leaders and superintendents leading change efforts, this book describes how separate professional learning communities can be linked across schools by common instructional and learning issues to create dynamic networked learning communities (NLCs). Drawing on their work with schools throughout North America and England, Steven Katz, Lorna M. Earl, and Sonia Ben Jaafar show how participants in NLCs can share professional knowledge that ultimately improves performance at the school and district level.

Through a sample school narrative, the book illustrates how NLCs can significantly enhance instruction, increase student performance, and empower local professional learning communities. This resource examines:

  • Collaborative inquiry as a process that challenges teachers' thinking, generates new learning, and fosters trusting relationships
  • The development of formal and informal leadership roles in NLCs
  • How NLCs support systematic data analysis and accountability

Demonstrating how NLCs—small or large, local or statewide—can promote critical reforms while strengthening the work of individual professional learning communities, this invaluable resource reveals how educators can join forces across school and district boundaries to generate deep, meaningful, and sustainable change.

Contents

Preface

Preface

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

  • 1. Why Networks? Why Now?
  • It’s About Learning
  • Networks: A Powerful Organizational Tool
  • Time for Reflection
  • 2. How Networked Learning Communities Work
  • What Are Networked Learning Communities?
  • How NLCs Work: The Theory of Action
  • Using NLCs to Focus Local PLCs
  • The Anatomy of a NLC: A Refined Theory of Action
  • Time for Reflection
  • 3. Establishing a Clear and Defensible Focus
  • Focus Foremost
  • Evidence-Based Focus
  • From a School Focus to a Network Focus
  • Time for Reflection
  • 4. Collaborative Inquiry to Challenge Thinking and Practice
  • The Importance of Relationships
  • From Inquiry to an Inquiry Habit of Mind
  • From Relationships to Deep Collaboration
  • Getting to Powerful Collaborative Inquiry
  • Time for Reflection
  • 5. Leadership in Networked Professional Learning Communities
  • Roles of Formal Leaders
  • Roles of Informal Leaders
  • Time for Reflection
  • 6. From Student Learning to Teacher Learning
  • Towards Focused Collaborative Inquiry
  • Collaborative Inquiry for Teacher Leaders
  • Within-School Focused Professional Learning: Collaborative Inquiry for Teachers
  • Time for Reflection
  • 7. Using the Network to Support Professional Learning for Leaders
  • Collaborative Inquiry and Focused Learning for Leaders
  • Using Critical Friends to Promote Inquiry and Focus Efforts
  • From Collaborative Inquiry to Instructional Leadership Actions
  • Time for Reflection
  • 8. Sustaining Networked Learning Communities
  • Sustaining Collective Understanding
  • Sustaining Professional Learning
  • Sustaining and Broadening Leadership
  • Sustaining Powerful Networked Learning Communities
  • Time for Reflection

References

References

Index

Index

Description

"Taking your school from great to greater—this compelling book gives you tools to use with staff for reflecting on and refining professional practices. You and your team will find tools for taking learners to the next level of improvement!"
—Lynn A. Kaszynski, Principal
Harrison Street Elementary School, Sunbury, OH

Networked learning communities: A powerful school improvement strategy for school leaders!

Ideal for school leaders and superintendents leading change efforts, this book describes how separate professional learning communities can be linked across schools by common instructional and learning issues to create dynamic networked learning communities (NLCs). Drawing on their work with schools throughout North America and England, Steven Katz, Lorna M. Earl, and Sonia Ben Jaafar show how participants in NLCs can share professional knowledge that ultimately improves performance at the school and district level.

Through a sample school narrative, the book illustrates how NLCs can significantly enhance instruction, increase student performance, and empower local professional learning communities. This resource examines:

  • Collaborative inquiry as a process that challenges teachers' thinking, generates new learning, and fosters trusting relationships
  • The development of formal and informal leadership roles in NLCs
  • How NLCs support systematic data analysis and accountability

Demonstrating how NLCs—small or large, local or statewide—can promote critical reforms while strengthening the work of individual professional learning communities, this invaluable resource reveals how educators can join forces across school and district boundaries to generate deep, meaningful, and sustainable change.

Contents

Preface

Preface

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

  • 1. Why Networks? Why Now?
  • It’s About Learning
  • Networks: A Powerful Organizational Tool
  • Time for Reflection
  • 2. How Networked Learning Communities Work
  • What Are Networked Learning Communities?
  • How NLCs Work: The Theory of Action
  • Using NLCs to Focus Local PLCs
  • The Anatomy of a NLC: A Refined Theory of Action
  • Time for Reflection
  • 3. Establishing a Clear and Defensible Focus
  • Focus Foremost
  • Evidence-Based Focus
  • From a School Focus to a Network Focus
  • Time for Reflection
  • 4. Collaborative Inquiry to Challenge Thinking and Practice
  • The Importance of Relationships
  • From Inquiry to an Inquiry Habit of Mind
  • From Relationships to Deep Collaboration
  • Getting to Powerful Collaborative Inquiry
  • Time for Reflection
  • 5. Leadership in Networked Professional Learning Communities
  • Roles of Formal Leaders
  • Roles of Informal Leaders
  • Time for Reflection
  • 6. From Student Learning to Teacher Learning
  • Towards Focused Collaborative Inquiry
  • Collaborative Inquiry for Teacher Leaders
  • Within-School Focused Professional Learning: Collaborative Inquiry for Teachers
  • Time for Reflection
  • 7. Using the Network to Support Professional Learning for Leaders
  • Collaborative Inquiry and Focused Learning for Leaders
  • Using Critical Friends to Promote Inquiry and Focus Efforts
  • From Collaborative Inquiry to Instructional Leadership Actions
  • Time for Reflection
  • 8. Sustaining Networked Learning Communities
  • Sustaining Collective Understanding
  • Sustaining Professional Learning
  • Sustaining and Broadening Leadership
  • Sustaining Powerful Networked Learning Communities
  • Time for Reflection

References

References

Index

Index

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Building and Connecting Learning Communities

The Power of Networks for School Improvement

Steven Katz , Lorna M. Earl , Sonia Ben Jaafar
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September 2009 | 136 pages | Corwin

Format Published Date ISBN Price
Paperback 01/02/2026 9781412966016 $37.95
Hardcover 27/02/2023 9781412966009 $75.95
Lifetime 01/02/2026 9781452272726 $35.00

"Taking your school from great to greater—this compelling book gives you tools to use with staff for reflecting on and refining professional practices. You and your team will find tools for taking learners to the next level of improvement!"
—Lynn A. Kaszynski, Principal
Harrison Street Elementary School, Sunbury, OH

Networked learning communities: A powerful school improvement strategy for school leaders!

Ideal for school leaders and superintendents leading change efforts, this book describes how separate professional learning communities can be linked across schools by common instructional and learning issues to create dynamic networked learning communities (NLCs). Drawing on their work with schools throughout North America and England, Steven Katz, Lorna M. Earl, and Sonia Ben Jaafar show how participants in NLCs can share professional knowledge that ultimately improves performance at the school and district level.

Through a sample school narrative, the book illustrates how NLCs can significantly enhance instruction, increase student performance, and empower local professional learning communities. This resource examines:

  • Collaborative inquiry as a process that challenges teachers' thinking, generates new learning, and fosters trusting relationships
  • The development of formal and informal leadership roles in NLCs
  • How NLCs support systematic data analysis and accountability

Demonstrating how NLCs—small or large, local or statewide—can promote critical reforms while strengthening the work of individual professional learning communities, this invaluable resource reveals how educators can join forces across school and district boundaries to generate deep, meaningful, and sustainable change.


Table Of Contents:

  • Preface
  • Acknowledgments
  • About the Authors
  • 1. Why Networks? Why Now?
  • It’s About Learning
  • Networks: A Powerful Organizational Tool
  • Time for Reflection
  • 2. How Networked Learning Communities Work
  • What Are Networked Learning Communities?
  • How NLCs Work: The Theory of Action
  • Using NLCs to Focus Local PLCs
  • The Anatomy of a NLC: A Refined Theory of Action
  • Time for Reflection
  • 3. Establishing a Clear and Defensible Focus
  • Focus Foremost
  • Evidence-Based Focus
  • From a School Focus to a Network Focus
  • Time for Reflection
  • 4. Collaborative Inquiry to Challenge Thinking and Practice
  • The Importance of Relationships
  • From Inquiry to an Inquiry Habit of Mind
  • From Relationships to Deep Collaboration
  • Getting to Powerful Collaborative Inquiry
  • Time for Reflection
  • 5. Leadership in Networked Professional Learning Communities
  • Roles of Formal Leaders
  • Roles of Informal Leaders
  • Time for Reflection
  • 6. From Student Learning to Teacher Learning
  • Towards Focused Collaborative Inquiry
  • Collaborative Inquiry for Teacher Leaders
  • Within-School Focused Professional Learning: Collaborative Inquiry for Teachers
  • Time for Reflection
  • 7. Using the Network to Support Professional Learning for Leaders
  • Collaborative Inquiry and Focused Learning for Leaders
  • Using Critical Friends to Promote Inquiry and Focus Efforts
  • From Collaborative Inquiry to Instructional Leadership Actions
  • Time for Reflection
  • 8. Sustaining Networked Learning Communities
  • Sustaining Collective Understanding
  • Sustaining Professional Learning
  • Sustaining and Broadening Leadership
  • Sustaining Powerful Networked Learning Communities
  • Time for Reflection
  • References
  • Index

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Used the following text:Davis, J. A. (1985). The logic of causal order. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Dr Tirupalavanam Ganesh, School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Arizona State University - Tempe
"Taking your school from great to greater—to get there, this compelling book gives you tools to use with staff for reflecting on and refining your professional practices. It provides you and your team with effective options for taking learners to the next level of improvement."
Lynn A. Kaszynski, Principal, Harrison Street Elementary School, Sunbury, OH

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