Abstract:

Following Bonsen/Rolff [1] a Professional Learning Community (PLC) between the teachers of one school is a working group of teachers with the aim to systematically learn, test and reflect selected forms of teaching. It is proven that PLCs enhance the quality of teaching and the school climate if they are tuned to the objectives of the school.
Starting point for the presentation given here is the regional teachers further education (regionale Lehrerfortbildung) in Berlin.
As an example the cooperation between school and teacher trainers (also called multiplicators) working together in the form of a PLC will be described. Additionally the possibilities for transferring the results into the internal further education of teachers of a school will be outlined. A prerequisite for these working groups is the readiness for cooperation. The professional demand however extends considerately beyond this.

The over-emphasis on individual freedom of every teacher in the methods chosen should be overcome. A joint agreement regarding didactic and methodological approaches presents itself as a necessary prerequisite for effective education and curriculum development (see Sergiovanni 1994 [2], Darling-Hammond 1997 [3]). The school leadership has not only the essential task to let the PLC staff operate freely but also to look for common objectives in order to avoid counter-productive fragmentation and adverse developments. The PLC can be understood as a social context. In it teachers get systematically and coordinated events as well as opportunities for job-related learning (cf. Bonsen / Rolff). Starting from the idea of cooperation and training of teachers in such a PLC, the question will be discussed what consequences of this knowledge are to be drawn for teacher training.

Starting from the definition of a PLC this paper will discuss the possibilities for transfer of the forms of interaction into a group of teacher trainers. The teacher trainers must have their focus on schools and their requirements. Concrete examples of the Berlin school practice will be given. The own development activities, the ability to cooperate and the exemplary level of approach to training are decisive for the successful work of a multiplicator also within a PLC. Thus, a transfer to real school situations is possible.

The number of German schools with existing PLCs is still low. The task for teacher trainers is therefore to organize themselves in PLCs and to professionalize their training in accordance. Also PLCs should be encouraged in schools as a method for school intern trainings.

Keywords:

Teacher Training, Curriculum Design.