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This paper proposes the building of Indigenous learning communities as an avenue to address the limited engagement of Indigenous Australians with education. Against the backdrop of current discussions of social capital and community capacity building, the paper explores educational policy and program options for linking families, schools and communities (including business and government) to identify and address local needs through drawing upon local resources. Five program models, from both Australia and overseas, are sketched to illustrate a range of approaches to encouraging and fostering positive engagement of families, schools and communities. Although the programs differ in focus, schools and community education are central to each, and all involve degrees of capacity building and the development of social capital. The experience derived from these programs suggests there is value in attempting to position the school at the centre of Indigenous communities. Further, in extending the traditional role of the school to incorporate other initiatives such as adult education and the coordination and integration of various child and family services, these programs necessarily bring more members of the wider community into contact with the school. Many of these programs also deliver increased parental and student participation and retention, and community involvement in the school. Indeed, the underlying philosophies of these approaches foster parental and community ownership of, and involvement in, not only the school, but also the education process in general. This is the foundation for building learning communities, where education is a life-long affair, where families and schools are strong and healthy, and where individuals in communities feel empowered to identify their most pressing needs and develop mechanisms to build capacity and secure resources to address those needs. The paper suggests a cluster of key features derived from the models that could be used in the formulation of a policy and program framework that addresses the needs of Indigenous families, schools and communities through a federally funded initiative to build Indigenous learning communities. Specific recommendations related to funding, evaluation and essential program components are provided.

Networking Learning Communities for Development Presented at: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Valletta, Malta, 23 November 2005, Report to the Foreign Ministers Committee by: Dr. Lewis Perinbam, O.C. Chairman of the Board Commonwealth of Learning // On behalf of the Board of Governors of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) I wish to thank you for the privilege of making this presentation. I want to begin by expressing our gratitude to Commonwealth governments for their support, especially those who are contributing financially to COL. // Our six major donors notably Canada, the UK, India, Nigeria, New Zealand (which plans to double its contribution over the next two years), and now South Africa are COL's financial backbone. During the current three-year plan Sierra Leone and Tuvalu became new contributors and Bangladesh, Ghana, St. Lucia, and Tanzania became supporters once again. We thank them all. Their financial support manifests the value they attach to COL. // The past biennium marked a change in COL's Presidency. Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan (Malaysia) who served COL with distinction for nine years and led it ably during a critical period in its history was succeeded by Sir John Daniel (United Kingdom) who is bringing new ideas and vitality to the organisation. I am delighted that he is here with me today. // COL will celebrate its 20th birthday at the next CHOGM. Commonwealth Heads of Government created COL when they met in Vancouver in 1987. They believed that Governments could only bring education and training to all their people by using media and technology. Twenty years ago the focus was on the mass media. Since then an effervescence of information and communications technologies has created an even richer environment for learning. // These contemporary methods of communication have sparked the revolution in open and distance learning that defines COL's mission. Our task is to enable Governments to harness this revolution to national aspirations. We help them to develop policies for using communications in education, to create distance learning systems and to apply learning technologies for many purposes. // The Millennium Development Goals provide the framework for describing our work. Let me give you a few examples of how we are helping countries towards these goals

Building professional learning communities (PLC) has become a widely recognized strategy for school development and for student achievement. Four Finnish comprehensive schools were identified as being ready to be PLCs in a previous quantitative study, and the purpose of this study was to investigate practices of PLCs in these schools. In this paper, we used data from qualitative multiple-case study, which investigated practices of leadership, culture, teacher collaboration, professional learning, and development. The results showed that the principals had played the main role in the progression of schools as PLCs. Principals were described as visionary leaders who had started positive progression, shared the leadership, and created commitment to common goals. The results indicated also that a change of leaders can have a positive effect. Decision-making processes were participative, inclusive, democratic, and collaborative, aiming for a satisfactory level of consensus. Relationships among staff were reported as being based on mutual trust and openness, and members were encouraged to express their opinions. Common responsibility of students, peer support, encouragement, and co-teaching were practiced. Co-teaching practices were identified as an effective form of collaborative work-embedded professional learning which is related to the core principles of professional learning communities. Structural conditions were reported as barriers to schools' development as PLCs. ; Peer reviewed

Learning communities are widely recognized as a powerful pedagogy that promotes deep learning and student engagement, while also addressing a range of challenges that plague higher education. The Completion Agenda represents a complex set of intersecting priorities advocated by federal and state government, nonprofit organizations, colleges, and universities that shift the national focus from expanding access to degree completion. Policy shifts and emerging educational practices aligned with the Completion Agenda such as dual credit courses, prescriptive degree maps, and the expansion of online general education courses are considered in terms of their impact on the administration of learning community programs. Although subtle adjustments in curricula may be necessary, learning communities remain critically important to preserving the quality of student learning and the integrity of undergraduate curricula in a policy environment that sometimes seems to emphasize efficiencies in degree completion above all else. Kathy E. Johnson is Dean of University College, Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education, and Professor of Psychology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).

Use of the web today, particularly amongst young people, is now more social and participative. Collectively known as Web 2.0, freely available tools have emerged that facilitate communication, user-generated content and social connectivity. Facebook and MySpace have become the most popular forms of this kind of online activity and networks are formed around all kind of interest and issues whether they are political, educational, professional or hobbies. In a recent survey of 500 students, 80% claimed that they regularly use social networking tools to communicate with peers (JISC, 2008). This pervasive use of Web 2.0 technology for everyday interaction has yet to see its potential fully recognised and integrated into Higher Education pedagogy. Despite 73% of students using such tools to 'discuss coursework' and 75% of these students recognising their value for enhancing learning, only 25% were encouraged to use such social software by academic staff (JISC, 2008). This raises the question as to whether Web 2.0 technology can promote social learning within educational contexts and how this might be realised in practice. In a bid to harness this creativity, energy and sociability, the Academic Skills Tutors (ASTs) at the University of Huddersfield have been exploring Web 2.0 technologies to investigate how such tools might enhance teaching and learning. This paper introduces practical examples of social software tools; how these are currently used to foster learning communities and promote academic development. Three distinct social software tools are discussed (del.icio.us, PBwiki - now PBworks - and Ning), illustrating current use of these with students and their initial evaluation

In this paper, I describe our ongoing international project in engaged educational ethnography and participatory action research with young adults and consider its relevance for a discussion on the community-building role of adult education in a globalized context. I use the example of our case study to suggest that adult educators can generate viable communities by creating learning spaces that nurture critical consciousness, a sense of agency, participation and social solidarity among internationally and culturally diverse young adult learners. Furthermore, I argue that participation in international learning communities formed through this educational process can potentially help young adults become locally and globally engaged citizens. International learning communities for global citizenship thus present a proposition for conceptualizing the vital role of adult community education in supporting democratic global and local citizenship in a world defined in terms of cross-cultural and longdistance encounters in the formation of culture. (DIPF/Orig.)

An initial curiosity around the variations and effectiveness of literacy coaching led to the extension of this research study, which explored the needs of adult learners in general as they existed and operated in their professional learning communities (PLCs). With a greater understanding of what adult learners sought from their learning communities, the research also established why certain adult learners pursued leadership positions, specifically was there a common profile of an adult learner who decided to lead PLCs instead of just participating. This study explored the functioning of the adult learners in their current PLCs and the perspectives of those learners as potential leaders at Westlake Middle School. Qualitative and quantitative methods of data were collected using two surveys and individual interviews. Results indicated that adult learners sought more democratic teams with more voice in the shared envisioning of the school. Structural constraints limited these two adult needs. Team trust and mutual respect were identified as areas for cultural improvements.

This paper suggests a different way of theorising the concept of learning community as it relates to digital literacy, social capital and student engagement in Higher Education. Drawing on the work of Quinn (2005) and Rancière (1991, 2010) to examine texts created by students and staff in interviews and in their VLE, the normative discourses of learning community and student engagement are problematized and the role of digital literacy in group work analysed. The paper suggests the term Democratic Learning Community (DLC) as an alternative to the normative and consensus driven discourses of learning community and student engagement prevalent in higher education. DLCs recognise the presence of political subjectification, dissent and resistance that will contribute insight to those involved in teaching students using digital platforms in Higher Education.

This paper suggests a different way of theorising the concept of learning community as it relates to digital literacy, social capital and student engagement in Higher Education. Drawing on the work of Quinn (2005) and Rancire (1991, 2010) to examine texts created by students and staff in interviews and in their VLE, the normative discourses of learning community and student engagement are problematized and the role of digital literacy in group work analysed. The paper suggests the term Democratic Learning Community (DLC) as an alternative to the normative and consensus driven discourses of learning community and student engagement prevalent in higher education. DLCs recognise the presence of political subjectification, dissent and resistance that will contribute insight to those involved in teaching students using digital platforms in Higher Education.

Effective Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) contribute to the overall improvement of student learning when a system-wide, leadership-based approach from the district and school level is applied by aligning a common vision, goal, and purpose. Despite a government-led implementation of PLCs province-wide in New Brunswick schools over ten years ago, the efficacy of PLCs in one particular New Brunswick school district has demonstrated little evidence of effectiveness or improvement. A district leadership team employed an Internal District Instrument (IDI) survey to measure areas of strength and barriers as it relates to its PLC formation and growth. Additionally, the team collected pre and post perception survey data from twenty teachers (n=20) during a summer learning session on building and sustaining PLCs. IDI survey results indicated that the district leadership team was seeking help in the domain of professional growth and development and that teachers and administrators were finding PLCs to be ineffective, to lack direction, and to fail to meet teacher-learning needs.

Many school districts are creating professional learning communities (PLCs) in which teachers are grouped for the purpose of collaboratively examining ways to improve student learning. PLCs are based on the assumption that actively engaging teachers in professional conversations will increase their knowledge and enhance student learning. This case study sought to gain insight into these conversations through the lens of deliberative democratic theory. According to this theory, if participants (i.e. teachers) offer reasoned opinion expressions and are inclusive of all group members, then they will be challenged to revise their viewpoints, leading to instructional change. The study involved observations of and interviews with three PLCs comprised of elementary, middle, and high school teachers within the same district. It was determined that these groups casually deliberated by sharing opinions on resources and teaching strategies that could be used with students. They listened to one another, shared personal experiences, asked questions, participated equally, and engaged in the topics of discussion to inform their own professional decisions. The teachers reported sharing instructional resources and strategies as a benefit of participating in a PLC, although the implementation of those resources was strongly influenced by a teacher's self-efficacy with the strategy. Teachers also reported the difficulty they experienced in deeply analyzing student data, not wanting to make a judgment about a group member's past performance. Overall, teachers stated that their perspectives were expanded based on the deliberations they held.

The issue of high school reform has received national attention during the first part of the 21st century. One idea brought forth in this restructuring effort has been the desire to create high schools with smaller student populations. However, in an era of tight budgets, where resources are not always available to build more schools, educators have explored the possibility of dividing existing large high schools into smaller units. This restructuring approach has many titles, but is frequently referred to as a Smaller Learning Community (SLC). Since 2000, the federal government has pledged $245 million to schools willing to create SLCs. This research has studied the schools in Florida that have received the federal implementation grant and have established SLCs. The 39 Florida high schools that were awarded the federal grant in 2000, 2001, and 2002 served as the population for this study. Twenty schools in the population completed a 45-item survey which measured implementation of five key SLC elements:(a) accountability, (b) autonomy, (c) identity, (d) instructional focus, and (e) personalization. Based on the survey results, an implementation score was determined for each participating school. Based on 5-point Likert scale (with a not applicable option) for the 35 questions that pertained to the five elements, a total score of 175 was the maximum amount possible. Individual responding school scores ranged from 104.7 - 157.1. The overall implementation score was also correlated with selected school indicators. Survey respondents also provided rationale for the implementation of SLCs and perceived benefits to students, teachers, and parents. In general, the survey respondents agreed that SLCs at their schools addressed the five key elements. The implementation scores and teacher comments, however, provided evidence that the levels of implementation of SLCs across the state varied in terms of the elements. Suggestions for future research and educational practices are provided ; 2005-05-01 ; Ed.D. ; Education, Department of Educational Research, Technology and Leadership ; Doctorate ; This record was generated from author submitted information.

This article provides an overview of Extension's Military Families Learning Network. The network is an example of Extension's commitment to building virtual learning networks in the support of targeted professional and lay audiences. The network uses well-established and emergent pedagogical approaches focusing on adult-centered learning while employing state-of-the-art online learning technologies. We present a four-dimensional model of learning activities to illustrate how the network offers different options for and approaches to adult-centered learning and training. The Military Families Learning Network can serve as a model for broader adoption of such entities across the Extension community.

The scientific community has provided a wide range of evidence that family and community involvement in schools benefits not only students' learning but also their surrounding community. The INCLUD-ED project has conducted case studies of successful schools around Europe that have strong community participation. Some of them are engaged in the Learning Communities project, an international project of educational and social transfonnation aimed at overcoming school failure. Through these case studies, INCLUD-ED has gone beyond the state of the art in the field and has provided a classification of types of family and community participation and identified forms of involvement that improve students' academic achievement. This article presents the benefits of those fonns of participation and focuses on some forms of commooity involvement in the Learning Communities that have been found to improve students' school learning and other education-related aspects, such as living together. ; peer-reviewed

The COVID-19 pandemic radically transformed higher education, which required many educators and students to adapt their learning and teaching practices in a short space of time. The emergency transition to online teaching during the pandemic created many learning opportunities by encouraging educators to rethink pedagogical practices, but also posed challenges and widened inequalities in education and society. In this article, I use critical pedagogies to reflect on my experiences of facilitating collaborative reading activities in a fully online environment during the pandemic, using a first-year core module in English Literature as my case study. I discuss the opportunities and challenges that emerged from the emergency transition to online teaching and learning, paying attention to issues of accessibility and inclusion. I advocate for the collaborative annotation tool Talis Elevate as a method of promoting critical pedagogies that empower students to engage in 'deep reading' and critical discussions surrounding inequalities in literature and wider society. I conclude by arguing that Talis Elevate, when combined with critical pedagogies, creates democratic and critically engaged learning communities by enabling students to find their voices and co-create knowledge about the subject matter.