Professional learning communities (PLCs) have become an increasingly popular strategy to strengthen teaching and student learning in K-12 STEM topics, particularly mathematics and science. The presence of skilled facilitation can be an important factor that contributes to the effectiveness of a STEM PLC. The specific skills needed for facilitation and who acts as a facilitator can vary, depending on the pool of available candidates and the context of the STEM PLC. Designers of STEM PLCs should consider how they can support facilitation and what form of facilitation is appropriate to their particular needs.
When queried about the importance of skilled facilitation and the requisite knowledge and skills needed for quality facilitation of a STEM PLC, a panel of 12 experienced practitioners offered a number of insights, which included:
- Don’t leave it to chance—Skilled facilitation is important to the success of STEM PLCs.
- Let knowledge lead the way—Successful facilitators of STEM PLCs need both STEM content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge.
- Use a continuous growth model—Facilitators need on-going opportunities to develop their skills.
- Insiders or outsiders?—Designers of STEM PLCs should consider the trade-offs of having facilitators who are members of the PLC or who are external to the group.
Empirical Research on STEM PLCs
As STEM PLCs have grown as a popular feature in K-12 schools and districts, it is timely to examine the findings of empirical studies on the topic. The extensive network of National Science Foundation funded MSP projects have produced a number of studies on STEM PLCs that add to this growing body of research. The MSP-KMD project reviewed the empirical research conducted by MSP projects on STEM PLCs to complement an earlier review of the research on STEM PLCs from the broader literature by researchers from the National Commission for Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) and WestEd. Summaries of each review are available through links in this knowledge review.
The MSP-KMD project identified and reviewed 13 studies of STEM PLCs by MSP projects. These studies echo several of the findings found in the NCTAF report, including evidence of the positive effects of STEM PLCs on deepening teacher knowledge of disciplinary content and pedagogy, influencing teacher classroom practice, and inconclusive evidence on the impact of STEM PLCs on student achievement. The MSP studies add to the knowledge base on STEM PLCs through studies of the effects of the involvement of STEM university faculty members on K-12 STEM PLCs and studies of the effects of facilitation strategies on interactions among members of STEM PLCs.
Practitioner Insights
STEM professional learning communities (STEM PLCs) may have any of a number of different purposes within the context of improving mathematics and science teaching and learning. For example, PLCs may aim to deepen teachers’ disciplinary content knowledge; their understanding of the nature of the STEM disciplines; and/or their understanding of student thinking about particular STEM ideas. PLCs might also work on developing teachers’ skills in designing effective instruction and monitoring student understanding. Experienced practitioners have noted that working toward these goals in a PLC format can be quite challenging, requiring skilled facilitation.
When queried about the knowledge and skills needed for effective facilitation of a STEM PLC, a panel of 12 experienced practitioners offered a number of insights, which are described below.
Don’t leave it to chance—Skilled facilitation is important to the success of STEM PLCs.
The expert practitioners generally agreed that skilled facilitation is important to the success of STEM PLCs. Effective facilitators can help keep the PLC focused on its overall goals, and monitor progress toward reaching those goals. They can help ensure that all voices are heard, interactions are respectful, and group norms are followed. Skilled facilitators work as catalysts in PLCs, encouraging participation, prompting members to stay on task, and motivating them to push their thinking. In addition, a skilled facilitator may bring knowledge and resources necessary to the functioning and success of the PLC. As noted by one experienced practitioner:
A skilled facilitator guides the PLC in learning to be a PLC, attending to norms, keeping to an agenda but adjusting when necessary, guiding agenda setting for another session, and planning tasks that push the teachers to think differently. An example [is a facilitator] having teachers work a task that lent itself to using multiple representations, facilitating a sharing and discussion on the multiple ways they solved the problem, asking the teachers to brainstorm what they expected students to understand and be able to do after a unit on systems of equations, pushing for important mathematical ideas and not only a skill, and then asking the hard questions: How should you be teaching this unit to assure that your students understand these big ideas? What will their understanding look like and sound like if they understand these ideas? This was followed by more probing questions [by the facilitator] and reaching consensus [among the group] which resulted in the entire unit being revised and taught in a more “reformed” manner.
At the same time, expert practitioners noted that there are often “not enough ‘skilled facilitators’ to go around and no funds to hire them.” They suggested that preparing the members of the STEM PLC to take on the facilitator role is a more feasible approach, and one that can lead to sustainability of the PLC.
As one program leader commented, “I believe that teachers are capable of doing these things for themselves with some practice and training and reliance on materials/resources that help to guide them.” The collective knowledge and experiences of members of the group can help provide the necessary support, with the facilitator focusing on the group process including making sure everyone’s voice is heard and keeping the group on task.
Program leaders described some strategies to train PLC members to act as facilitators. For example, in one project, PLC members facilitated parts of the PLC session using a structured protocol to examine student work. In other MSPs, the STEM PLCs used an apprentice model, initially employing an outside facilitator, and as teachers learned how to facilitate the sessions, the group no longer relied on these facilitators. One expert practitioner described how alternating roles can serve as preparation:
Many [PLCs] rotate roles each meeting (facilitator, two note-takers for board and computer, convener, etc.) and begin this process by setting norms about how they want to work together and then monitoring one norm each meeting and discussing it at the end. In that way, everyone, including the facilitator, can learn how to do their jobs better.
Given that skilled facilitators are not likely to be broadly available, PLC designers should consider the complexity of the tasks STEM PLCs will engage with, as well as the background and experience of the PLC members, in determining the nature and type of facilitation support an individual PLC will need in order to be successful. Groups that are “beginners” to the PLC process will likely need support from a skilled facilitator, as well as from structured protocols to guide the experiences, especially if the tasks of the PLC are complex.
STEM PLC groups that are more experienced in the PLC process may need less support from a facilitator and may not need protocols for relatively straightforward tasks, especially if the members have reasonably strong content backgrounds. But, even experienced groups will need guidance from facilitators (and/or structured protocols/resources) for new or complex tasks.
Let knowledge lead the way—Successful facilitators of STEM PLCs need both STEM content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge.
Program leaders suggested that high quality facilitation of a STEM PLC requires a unique blend of knowledge and skills. In addition to contributing to the norms of group communication which would generally be the case, PLCs focused on improving STEM teaching and learning require facilitators with the disciplinary and pedagogical content knowledge needed to support these goals. As one practitioner noted:
Skilled facilitators who understand the pedagogy, but do not understand the content deeply enough are not well enough prepared to listen to the mathematical thinking of their participants and ask the kinds of questions about that content that helps move thinking forward, nor do they know enough to lead a discussion of the variety of solutions that emerge. Skilled facilitators who know the content deeply, but do not have the pedagogy may resort to lecturing on the content rather than focusing on sense-making opportunities or may not be well prepared to facilitate small group and whole group discussions about content in a way that is probably more appropriate pedagogically, given what we want participants to learn mathematically. Plus it is important for participants to understand the interplay between content and pedagogy in order to make connections to their own mathematics teaching practice.
Recognizing that most people will not have deep knowledge of all of the content that might be addressed by a STEM PLC, program leaders emphasized the importance of ensuring that the expertise is available to the group. For example, one experienced practitioner described the advantages of collaborations between mathematicians who bring especially strong content knowledge, and mathematics educators who bring especially strong pedagogical content knowledge. In these sessions, the co-facilitators carefully plan how they will facilitate sessions and afterwards debrief on what they learned from the group and each other. Other practitioners described how facilitators were able to draw on the expertise of the STEM PLC members for the additional disciplinary and pedagogical knowledge needed.
Given that STEM PLCs will have different compositions, and will focus on a variety of topics, facilitators need to know how to draw on the resources available. Program leaders stressed the need for facilitators to be clear with participants about what experiences and knowledge they bring to the group, and to draw on the knowledge and skills that PLC members offer. Said one experienced practitioner:
It is not always possible for a facilitator to have deep content knowledge of all the science topics that come up in a PLC. While it is always helpful to have deep content knowledge, the facilitator does not have to be the “expert” on everything. Rather, the facilitator needs to be knowledgeable enough to be able to identify external resources (which can be a STEM faculty member, or a written resource) to bring content expertise to the PLC. The facilitator also can elicit the content expertise from the PLC members themselves. This acknowledgment that the leader does not “know all” and [of the] value of seeking knowledge from available sources, models behavior that would be beneficial for transfer into the classroom.
Insight in Action
A college science education professor started a lesson study group at an elementary school. Acting as the facilitator, she brought FOSS kits and a stronger background in science than the teachers, but they all brought knowledge of teaching and some willingness to examine practice (it was a volunteer group that grew over time). The complexity of the tasks grew over time from just getting FOSS lessons to happen initially, to refining the lessons to facilitate student learning, at the same time working to develop teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. In addition to the changes in content knowledge and teaching, an important aspect of change was the sense of empowerment that teachers experienced: the feeling that their work was important, that they could improve, and that their voices were being listened to by the administration.
Use a continuous growth model—Facilitators need on-going opportunities to develop their skills.
Expert practitioners noted that having facilitators with previous experience in leading professional development, teacher meetings/discussions, or PLCs is optimal, but not essential. Some program leaders commented that disciplinary and pedagogical content knowledge were higher priorities than previous facilitation experience. And there was consensus among these program leaders that, regardless of previous experience, facilitator development should be on-going. As one practitioner stated:
Our facilitators need to have opportunities to become stronger and more experienced in their facilitation. We have found that starting facilitators in professional development that is more structured and perhaps is of a shorter duration and then moving from there to more complex facilitation can be helpful.
To help novice facilitators develop their skills, program leaders suggested pairing them with more experienced facilitators. In addition, they recommended providing facilitators periodic opportunities to reflect on their work. Said one:
We regularly bring our facilitators together to share their planning strategies, discuss their facilitation, and consider how they respond to the work that participants create during sessions or for homeworK-all supported with actual artifacts from the professional development itself that help ground all of these conversations.
One expert practitioner was quick to note that previous experience does not always ensure quality facilitation, “We all know someone with lots of experience who is still not good at their job!”
Insiders or outsiders?—Designers of STEM PLCs should consider the trade-offs of having facilitators who are members of the PLC versus those who are external to the group.
In identifying facilitators, STEM PLC designers should consider whether it is better to have facilitators who are members of the STEM PLCs or facilitators who are external to the PLC groups. There are clearly a number of trade-offs.
Program leaders noted that facilitators who are internal to the STEM PLC have a number of advantages. Not only do they have K-12 teaching experience, but they are also likely to have a good understanding of the needs, expectations, and teaching contexts of the participants, which would help them in making the PLC experiences relevant to the teachers in the group. And, rotating facilitation responsibilities among members of a STEM PLC can help with both capacity building and buy-in. Said one program leader:
If everyone contributes as facilitator, everyone is accountable to doing the work. They have to stay tuned in and on top of what is happening from meeting to meeting. They are each making choices to guide the group, which is then another way they are acting collaboratively.
At the same time, program leaders noted that when it comes to content knowledge, facilitators who are external to the group (e.g., STEM faculty, graduate students in mathematics/science education) may have more credibility with STEM PLC group members than a teaching colleague in the same school. External facilitators might also have more influence on school and district administrators, and easier access to resources for use in the STEM PLC work.
In addition, experienced practitioners suggested that external facilitators may be able to navigate tricky waters that might be difficult for colleagues on a STEM PLC. Said one program leader:
I think having an external facilitator makes it easier to help the group set goals, facilitate in ways that keep the group focus on goals, and raise questions that may challenge assumptions or push on the thinking of participants. Trying to do these things when you are a member of the group can create complications around the collegial relationships in a building.
But external facilitators face challenges as well. For example, they could be perceived as “outside experts” attempting to “fix” the teachers in the group. Experienced practitioners noted that, for external facilitators to be successful, they need to be skilled at “eliciting the group’s aspirations and needs and connecting the work with these, all the while helping the group feel ownership. Likewise, they need to be good at bringing in the right resources at the right time, so participants feel it is in response to their needs, not somebody else’s.”
Facilitators who do not have K-12 teaching experience may find some aspects of their role particularly problematic. One expert practitioner noted that “it is always preferable to have at least one of the facilitators bring K-12 experience to the PLC.” At the very least, said another, the facilitators have to be “reasonably in touch with what it means to teach in a K-12 setting.” And another program leader gave examples of where K-12 teaching experience is most and least important:
If the PLC is examining grade level curricula, instructional materials, student work, etc., then it is helpful if the facilitator is able to recognize and understand what constitutes good materials and evidence of good teaching and learning at that grade level. However, facilitators without K-12 experience can still do a good job with helping the group monitor and reflect on their current activities in light of their goals and norms.
If you are interested in how these practitioner insights were collected and analyzed, a summary of the methodology can be found here.