Words Matter

WHAT IS A LEARNING-FOCUSED MISSION?

As educators, are we here to teach and cover a curriculum, or are we here to ensure students actually learn the curriculum? A learningfocused mission assumes that our schools were not built so educators have a place to teach but instead so students have a place to learn. In the PLC process, the rst big idea, a focus on learning, captures this belief. e fundamental purpose of a PLC is to ensure high levels of learning for every student.

e PLC process is a way of thinking. Getting educators to shift from a mindset of teaching, covering material, ranking, and sorting to learning for all is a di cult task. Once a school embraces this mission and understands the new lenses through which one must view the work, traditional practices that are counterproductive to this goal become apparent.

ink of this shift in mindset as similar to the experience of looking at an optical illusion. First you see the obvious picture, like a beach scene, but after you examine the image long enough, you start to view it another way. A new picture emerges of an elephant in a clown car. Once you get it, you think, “How did I miss that elephant?” Until you mastered the ability to look at the picture with the correct gaze, it really did look like a traditional beach scene. at is what the shift from a teaching focus to a learning focus is like.

Source: Mattos, M., DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. W. (2016). Frequently asked questions about Professional Learning Communities at Work Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.