Literature+Review



**__LITERATURE REVIEW__**

Talk Evident inEffective Professional Learning Teams to Improve Teacher Practice and Student Outcomes-Cathy Curwood __ Background  __ Domain  || Elements  || Symbolic || Shared LeadershipSupportive LeadershipVision and Values || Human || Social NeedsRelationshipsTeacher Empowerment || Educational || KnowledgeResearchEvidence Based Inquiry || Technical || ConversationCommunicationSupport || Cultural || RespectLearning& Collaboration || Table 1: Domains and Elements of Professional Learning Teams Note that the domains mentioned above are all interrelated.Without Symbolic Leadership the vision and values for PLTs would not be a reference point for Human, Educational, Technical and Cultural Leadership .Without Human Leadership, the Educational and Cultural domain would not supported by teachers.Without Technical Leadership, Educational Leadership would not be supported. __ Professional Learning Teams  __ __ Symbolic Domain  __ Shared Leadership // Shared leadership involves others in decision-making processes and empowers them   // // to act on their ideas.These are two of the most significant and effective strategies  // // used by capable leaders, Kouzes and Posner (1987). // Leadership may take many forms autocratic, consultative, delegative or facilitative, Hargreaves & Fink (2006).When leadership is facilitative it is described as ‘distributive leadership.’ “The ultimate key in creating the pleasure in the hard work of change is to give people the tools and autonomy to make their own contribution to change.” (Kanter 1995:83).Alternatively if a leader tries to manage change alone it is likely to disintegrate because there isn’t a body of support behind the change.(Kanter 1983, Kotter 1996). Every PLT member should have the opportunity to contribute to the implementation of change within their team to improve student outcomes. Supportive Leadership // “The 1990’s view of leadership calls for principals to act as partners with teachers,   // // involved in a collaborative quest to examine practices and improve schools.Principals   // // are not expected to control teachers but to support them and to create opportunities  // // for them to grow and develop.” (Lieberman 1995:9)  // Louis and Kruse (1995) calls this ‘ leading from the centre’. ‘Leading from the centre’ allows leaders accessibility to PLT learning, a chance to share in PLTs and a chance to stimulate and facilitate dialogue about teaching and learning without dominating.It gives leaders a change to collaborate with teams on teacher practice and student learning. Once teachers feel comfortable asking for assistance in their professional growth, it allows leaders to assist teachers in‘increasing cognitive understanding of instruction and learning and a more sophisticated repertoire of teaching” by providing appropriate professional development. ‘Leading from the centre’ is supportive leadership where both leaders and teachers grow together professionally through mutual respect.Leithwood (1997) reinforced these values saying leaders treated teachers with respect and worked with them as colleagues. Supportive leaders need to facilitate dialogue in PLTs about teaching and learning, so collaboration about teacher practice and student learning can take place. Shared Vision, Values and Goals // “There is not a more powerful engine driving an organisation toward excellence   // // and long-range success than an attractive, worthwhile and achievable vision of   // // the future, widely shared.”(Nanus 1992: 3)  // Leaders that model and espouse the school vision, values and goals keep the school vision very much alive.Louis and Kruse (1995) identity this as : “a mode of associated living through communicated experience.”(Louis & Kruse 1995:215). Newmann and Wehlage (1995) found that effective PLTs “pursue a clear shared purpose for all students’ learning, engage in collaborative activity to achieve that purpose and take collective responsibility for student learning.”(Newmann & Wehlage 1995:30) For the vision to be clear it must be accompanied by clear values that link to the vision by moral purpose. Clarity values fosters strong feelings of personal effectiveness, promotesloyalty, focuses on goals, supports professional behaviour, promotes a strong work ethicand reduces workplace stress, Kouzes & Posner (1987). Every vision must be accompanied by short achievable goals attached to it.Fullan cites Kotter who urges us to ‘generate short-term wins’ and Csiksxentmihalyi(1990) who directs us to ‘structure efforts around clear goals and precise, short-term feedback.’In this way team members are able to see what they commit to and have the opportunity to celebrate on the successful completion of goals often.Kouzes and Posner describes the momentum created through goal setting and achievement asastream of “visible, tangible results.” (Kouzes & Posner 1987:177) We must be sure that team goals allow for member creativity in the implementation. Frequent references to the school vision, values and goals provide a focus for effective PLTsin improving student outcomes __ Human Domain __ Social Needs Maslow (1943) identifies a hierarchy of psychological needs for humans. The psychological needs are physiological including sleep and food; safety, including job security and safety to share in a group environment; belonging or identifying with the group norms; esteem or job efficacy and self actualization or the ability to grow professionally.Norms for group sharing are essential if team members are to safely discuss their beliefs and assumptions and move to a common understanding how students learn, become more efficacious about their job and eventually self actualise as a professional. Group norms developed and used in PLTs provide a safe environment for sharing beliefs and assumptions in effective PLTs. Relationships // “Relationships create a common language and a sense of shared responsibility   // // and provide channels for communication.” (Earl & Timperley 2009:49)   // Earl and Timperley (2009) state that relationships are the key in changing teacher thinking and practice.These relationships are respectful and built on trust.Bryk and Schneider (2002) identified the social trust among members of a team asthe strongest facilitor of community. in a school becausePLTs that work, reflectand communicate together build trust and strengthen relationships. Research implies that when reflection and communication are evident in PLTs, trust is built and relationships are formed. Teacher Empowerment // “Facilitators look for opportunities to create leadership, regardless of status   // // or rank.this helps to strengthen members’ commitment to the network,   // // enlarges their vision of the possibilities for change.”(Lieberman 1996:54)  // Leadership teams provide professional support through respect (Beatty 2002). When respect is evident the capabilities of a teacher are upheld, extended and developed and transactional communication and approval are sought.Respecting the capabilities of teachers allows leaders to empower others through distributed leadership and encourages employees to discuss and experiment with their learning, Colbert, Brown, Choi & Thomas (2008).Silins, Mulford and Zarins (2002) identified the conditions needed for inquiry learning not only included distributed leadership but transformational leadership and the active involvement of the leaders in the teams (Cousins, Goh & Clarke 2006; Fullan 1991, Fullan 1993, Huberman & Miles 1984). Discussion and inquiry about learning is evident when teachers feel empowered in PLTs. __ Educational Domain  __ Knowledge Before individuals can share inside knowledge (stories about personal teaching practice) and outside knowledge (knowledge created through research and inquiry) Lieberman (2000) or narrative knowledge and paradigmatic knowledge, Jerome Bruner (1990), constructive relationships need to be evident within the PLT.Therefore a culture of listening and reacting to each other’s ideas so team members are able to freely express themselves and reach personal mastery in tacit and explicit knowledge needs to be evident.This is constructivist learning. Nonaka & Takeuchi (1995) and Von Krogh (2000) each developed constructivist models along the following lines,recognising the complex social nature of knowledge creation and transfer ie.sharing tacit knowledge, creating a concept together, justifying the concept and trialling and internalising the concept.To improve student outcomes teachers inquire about their tacit knowledge and create implicit knowledge about discipline content, pedagogical content and pedagogy. Knowledge develops from three sources.Knowledge for practice comes from outside sources, knowledge in practice is built while working and knowledge of practice is the construction of knowledge by teachers inquiring into each other’s practise in PLTs, Smythe and Lytle (1999). Sharing of personal teacher practice and inquiry are evident in PLTs that seek to develop their professional knowledge and create new knowledge. Research Leaders can model and reinforce the value of ongoing learning and research use by engaging in their own reading, sharing key concepts from reading with staff and providing current research to support the specific focus of each PLT...following this model leaders can build capacity”(Sather 2009:8) PLT discussions drawn from readings and research advance a PLT’s ability to seek alternative solutions, models and perspectives and enriches professional dialogue. Evidence Based Inquiry // “While the annual test data serve as a starting point, teams are encouraged   // // to use more specific measures, develop common assessments and other ways  // // to gauge incremental progress, and make adjustments to teaching strategies   // // when appropriate.”(Sather 2009:42)  // Moss (2008), Reid (2007) and Griffin, Murray, Care, Thomas & Perri (2008) support the analysis of student data for teacher inquiry learning because “we need some proof, some research behind it to reassure us” (Hipp et al.2008:182).Moss (2008) found that the professional development literature and school reform literature each stress the importance of analysing student performance against goals and standards for student learning through data driven, evidence-based practice (Elmore 2004).Furthermore Reid foundthat “engaging in assessment moderation appears to help teachers resolve formative and summative assessment tensions and strengthen links between pedagogy, curriculum and assessment.” (Reid 2007:144) Griffin, Murray, Care, Thomas & Perri (2008) supports Reid’s work by identifying that “teachers learnt to use the data, link the data to an interpretation of each student’s development, and then match a teaching and resource strategy to thatstudent’s readiness to learn (Griffin, Murray, Care, Thomas & Perri 2008:22) is the fundamental link between practice and theorycoupled with focused professional reading and professional learning opportunities. This underscores the importance of data driven instruction accompanied by anemphasis on teacher learning and professional development.He goes on to suggest that humans can only provide evidence in the form of what they write, make, do and say (Griffin 2007:3), as all cognitive and affective learning is inferred from these four observable actions. Griffin, Murray, Care, Thomas & Perri (2008) admit that here is a growing body of research linking formative use of assessment data from standardised assessments to the improvement of student learning outcomes through a process of critical and collaborative analysis and discussion of data (Phillips et al. 2004; Halverson, Grigg, Prichett & Thomas, 2005; Mokhtari, Rosemary & Edwards, 2007).They go on to state that discussion and analysis as a component of professional development has been shown to inform teaching and improve student achievement. Literature supports the use of data to highlight success, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and measures progress toward goals.A focus on student work can provide teachers with opportunities to dialogue about learning as learning relates to lesson planning, student achievement and student work, Garmston (2005). __ Technical Domain __ Conversation // “Growth of the school-based professional community is marked by conversations  // // that hold practice, pedagogy, and student learning under scrutiny. Rich and recurring discourse promotes high standards of practice, and both generate and reinforce core  // // beliefs, norms, and values of the community.In other words, talk is the bridge  // // between educational values and improved practice in schools .”(Kruse et al. 1995:30)  // School leaders are responsible for sustaining deep conversation in PLTs. Structured conversations facilitated using conversation protocols is one way of sustaining this deep conversation.They allow for everyone in the group to speak, ask clarifying questions, reflect and give feedback.They keep the team focussed, feeling safe and are conducive to individual group learning.Protocols allow groups to explore student work, evidence of teacher practice and research relating to topics under scrutiny or problems within practice, Easton (2009).Protocols also allow for everyone to discuss (exchange their ideas) and to dialogue (to achieve common understandings), Scott et al. Discussion and dialogue would be evident in PLTs seeking to promote democratic practice.Protocols may be usedto guide these conversations. Communication // Two way communication or transactional interaction with engagement has the   // // potential to shift perspectives andtransform belief (Beatty2002). //  When every participant in a team has the opportunity to participatein dialogue with each other, Beatty (2002) describes this communication as two-way transactional.Hill (2002) describes this communication as symmetrical and Guldberg (2008) describes this communication as centralised participation. This two-way communication described above is essential where there is a rigorous discussion and dialogue over practice ie. // “Teachers use their collective voices to plan for sharing ideas and providing feedback   // // to their peers and to examine and improve”(Roberts&Pruitt 2009). //  Support PLTs need to be physically supported by the school leadership.Their responsibility is to communicate and support teams through “language, the tools, documents, images, symbols, well defined roles, specified criteria, codified procedures, regulation and contracts and the various practices made explicit for a variety of purposes.”(Wenger1998:47)Without an agenda, regular meeting time, clear goals, role expectations, protocols and purpose to review regularly, a team can lose it’s way and it’s direction.Cranston (2009) calls these the structural supports that commit to building a community of learners. Evidence of an agenda being followed, clearly articulated goals being shared, clarity of role expectations and protocols are evident in PLTs that are supportive and supported. __ Cultural Domain  __ Respect Respect can be built or destroyed in a PLT.A culture of respect is essential in a PLT if team members are to feel valued.To feel valued, time to listen, understand and challenge individual’s information is essential.This shows respect.With respect in place an individual is motivated to share openly and to share their prior knowledge. When time is given for sharing prior knowledge and sharing openly about teacher practice respect is nurtured. Care Trust develops when we feel cared for.In Beatty (2002) about ‘Teachers Talk about their Emotional Recollections of Administrators’, Beatty listened to teacher stories.38% of the stories were about a positive experience with leaders who showed they cared for them by respecting them and showing interest in them and explaining visions to them.They felt both personally and professionally affirmed, an increased sense of security, confidence and relationship, andempowered for creativity.The teachers who shared this story found that where there is open and sensible communication and collaboration, trust and relationships are developed and teachers said they felt happier and were happy to do more than what was expected from them.(Senge et al 2000:326) describes such a community as “the container that holds the culture.Teachers feel invigorated, challenged, professionally engaged, and empowered just because they teach there.” “Cultures that sustain this work over time also are characterized by increased teacher collaboration and learning, as well as increased success for students.”(Hipp et al.2008:177) Care is evident when teachers are motivated to engage in extended authentic learning in their PLT. Trust // “Trust is an essential factor in building respect withincollaborative school settings. // // Trust has been defined as a ‘group’s generalized expectancy that the words, actions,  // // and promises of another individual, group or organisation can be relied upon’  // //(Beatty 2002).// Where trust binds the adults within the school teachers demonstrate a collective commitmentto improve student outcomes Toole & Louis (2002) and a greater willingness to collaborate with principals on school reform strategies and curriculum issues. Three kinds of trust are identified by Reina and Reina (Beatty 2002)) for PLTs.They are competence trust, communication trustand contractual trust.  __  Competence Trust  __ //  Competence trustis a regard for one’s own and others’ capability, knowledge,  // //  skills and judgement (Beatty 2002:146).  //  To build this trust in PLTs, there needs to be a culture of discussion, questioning and acknowledging appropriate subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge.Hill, Ball & Schilling (2008) break down these areas of knowledge into common content knowledge, specialised content knowledge, knowledge at the mathematical horizon, knowledge of content and teaching, knowledge of content and students and knowledge of curriculum.Sullivan, Clarke & Clarke (2009) found that 70 out of the 104lessons in their study, could not transform a basic fractions idea into an effective mathematics lesson.They concluded that “we should not take for granted that all or even most teachers can necessarily translate a good idea or task into a worthwhile learning experience for students, without considerable professional development support.”(Sullivan, Clarke & Clarke 2009:17) Rigorous discourse about student workto build the teacher capacity in subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledgeis essential in effective PLTs. __ Contractual Trust  __ // Contractual trust refers to the team member’s ability to fulfil obligations, meet   // // expectations and keep their promises (Beatty 2002). // Schuck, Aubussen & Buchanan (2008) researched the effect of peer observations on teaching education practice through professional learning conversations.The team members in their study, were able to negotiate their understandings of practice through reflective and learning conversations.It was each teacher’s responsibility to follow the LaBoskey (2006)process advice “by providing each other with support to articulate and rearticulate ideas, gather and debate evidence and engage in metacognition to theorise shared experiences”(Schuck, Aubussen & Buchanan 2008:218), and to come to a common understanding ofeffective teacher practice. Collegial support to articulate and paraphrase ideas and theorise about teaching and learningin effective PLTs is implied from research on contractual trust. __ Communication Trust  __ // Communication trust concerns the quality, clarity and openness of communication   // // and the level of disclosure of information, including admitting mistakes Beatty (2002)   // // and Hipp et al.(2008). // In the Schuck Aubussen & Buchanan (2008) study teachers were able to openly communicate and questiontheir observations knowing it would clarify their thoughts and improve their teaching. When Goh (2000) synthesized and integrated the management literature he discovered that one of the key strategic building blocks in a learning organizations is to be able to clearly transfer knowledge and to clearly communicate the teams vision by supporting the vision and espousing the value of the organisation in the vision (Cousins, Goh & Clark 2006:158). Communication of aclear vision and open and clarifying questionsshould be heard in PLTs that value transfer of professional knowledge. The literature on trust implies that collegial support, rigorous discourse and the communication of a clear vision are evident in a trustingworkplace and conducive to professional learning. Learning and Collaboration // “In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves   // // beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists”(Barth 2001:28)  // Barth (2001) describes a culture of learning as a ‘learning community’.“For only when the schoolhouse becomes a context for adult development will it become hospitable to student development” (Barth 2001:29) // A culture of collaboration develops from a shared purpose, shared experience  // // and professional dialogue, Andrews & Lewis (2002). // When collaborating with others Schuck (2008) and Toole & Louis (2002) challenges us to probe the assumptions of all concerned and challenge our views of what good teaching is. They go on to say that to do this we need to be willing to take risks; respect one another’s expertise in teaching; andreflect collaboratively on our teaching and learning.It is only in this way that we can challenge our practise, improve and then improve student outcomes.His findings were based on the research he did on peer observation and the follow up conversations held in professional learning teams.This implies that challenging questions, reflective practise and respect for one another’s expertise should be heard in a PLT when discussing good practice because it the common focus is “student success”(Hipp et al.2008:189). Respectful collaboration which challenges and probes assumptions about good teacher practice are necessary in effective PLTs focussed on their own learning for student success. __ Concluding Statement  __ // The talk in PLT’s has “the power to change the culture of the schools and make   // // continuous learning and improvement not only possible but manageable.”  // // (Griffin, Murray, Care, Thomas & Perri 2008:21)   // The literature suggests that Professional Learning Teams that continuously improve teacher practice and student outcomes show evidence of the following professional talk during their meetings. Domain || Elements || Talk Evident in effective PLTs || Symbolic || Shared Leadership Supportive Leadership Vision ,Valuesand Goals || Contributions by all members Leader facilitated dialogue School vision, values and goals || Human || Social Needs Relationships Teacher Empowerment || Group norms Reflection and communication Discussion and inquiry || Educational || Knowledge Research Evidence Based Inquiry || Sharing and inquiry About readings and research Focus on student work || Technical || Conversation Communication Support || Discussion and dialogue Two way communication Goals, agenda, role and protocols  || Cultural || Respect Learning& Collaboration ||  Open sharing aboutteacher practice Motivated Collegial support, rigorous discourse, clear vision Respectful challenge and probing of assumptions || Table 2: Domains, Elements and Talk Evident in Effective Professional Learning Teams Evidence to support the above implication are worthy of further investigation in the form of meeting logs, PLT developmental rubrics (see Appendix 1), leader interviews(see Appendix 2) and teacher surveys (see Appendix 3). __ References  __

Barth (1990) Improving school from within, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass Beatty, B (2002) Teachers talk about their emotional recollections of administrators, //Emotion Matters in Educational Leadership: Examining the Unexamined// Cochran-Smith & Lytle ( 1999)Relationships of knowledge and practice: Teacher learning community, //Review of Research in Education//, 24, 249-305  Bruner,(1990) //Acts of Meaning,// Harvard University Press Bryk & Schneider (2002) Trust in schools: A core resource for improvement, New York, Russell Sage Colbert, Brown, Choi & Thomas (2008) An Investigation of the impacts of Teacher-Driven Professional Developnment on Pedagogy and Student Learning //Teacher Education// Quarterly, Spring 2008 Cousins, Goh & Clarke (2006)  Data use Leads to Data Valuing:Evaluative Inquiry for School Decision Making //Leadership and Policy in Schools// 5,155-176 Cranston (2009) Holding the Reigns of the Professional Learning Community: Eight Themes from Research on Principals’ Perceptions of Professional Learning of Communities //Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy// Issue 90 Csikszentmihaly (1990), Follow the psychology of optimal experience, New York, Harper Perennial, 49 DEECD (2007) The Developmental Learning Framework for School Leaders, Melbourne, DEECD  DEECD (2008) Blueprint for Government Schools, Melbourne, DEECD  Eaker & Dufour (1998) Professional Learning Communities at Work, Bloomington, Indiana, Solution Tree  Eaker, DuFour & Dufour (2002) Getting started: Reculturing schools to become professional lerning communities, Bloomington, Indiana, National Educational Service  Earl & Timperley (2009) Professional Learning Conversations, USA, Springer <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> Easton (2009) Protocols for Professional Learning, Alexandria, VA, ASCD <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Egawa (2009), Good Talk about Good Teaching, //Voices from the Middle//, 16(4), 9-16 <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Erawan (2008) Teacher Empowerment andDeveloping a Curricular Management System in Municipal Schools Using Cooperation Between University and Municipality in Thailand, //Asia Pacific Journal of Education//, 28(2), 161-176 <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Fullan (1991) The new meaning of educational change, New Your, Teachers College Press <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Fullan (1993) Change forces: Probing the depths of educational reform, London, Falmer Press <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Fullan (2001), Leading in a Culture of Change, San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass,22-33 Goh (2000) Towards a learning organization: the strategic building blocks.//SAM Advanced Management Journal//, 63(2), 15-22 Garmston (2005) Group wise: How to turn conflict into an effective learning process www.nsdc.org/library/publications/jsd/garmston263.cfm Griffin (2007) The comfort of competence and the uncertainty of assessment, //Studies in Educational Evlauation//, 33, 87-99 Griffin, Murray, Care, Thomas & Perri (2008) Developmental Assessment:Lifting Literacy through Professional Learning Teams Guldberg (2008) Adult learners and professional development: peer-to-peer learning in a networked community, //International Journal of Lifelong Education//, 27(1),35-49  <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Hadfield (2005) Knowledge Production, Its Management and Action Research, Educational Action Research, 13(2), 301-311

Halverson et al.(2005) the New Instructional Leadership:Creating Data-Driven Instructional Systems in Schools (WCER Working Paper No. 2005-9), Madison, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin Centre for Education Research [] <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Hargreaves & Fink (2006) Sustainable Leadership, San Francisco, CA, Wiley & Sons <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Hill (2002) Network Assessments and Diagrams : A Flexible Friend for Social work and Practice and Education, //Journal of Social Work 2//,233-254 Hill, Ball & Schilling (2008) Content knowledge for teaching: What make it special? //Journal of TeacherEducation,// 59(5), 389-404 Hipp, Huffman, Pankake & Oliver (2008) Sustaining Professional Learning Communities : Case Studies//Springer, Science and Business Media// <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Kanter1983) the change master: Innovation and entrepreneurship in the American corporation, New York: Simon and Schuster <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Kanter (1995) Mastering change, Sarita & Renesch, Learning organizations: Developing cultures for tomorrow’s workplace, Portland, OR, Productivity Press, 71-83 <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Kotter (1996) Leading change, Boston, Harvard Business SchoolPress <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Kouzes & Posner (1987) The leadership challenge : How to get extraordinary things don in organizations, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass   Kruse, Louis & Bryke (1995) An emerging framework for analysing school-based professional community, //Professionalism and community: Perspectives on Reforming Urban Schools,//23-42,Thousand Oaks, CA, Corwin Press LaBoskey (2006) the fragile strengths of self-study, //Teacher learning and development: The mirror maze//, Aubusson & Schuck, 251-262, Dordrecht, Springer Leithwood (1997) Conditions fostering organisational learning in schools, //Paper presented at the annual meeting of the international Congress on School Effectiveness and Improvement//, Memphis, Tennessee Lieberman (1996) Creating Intentional Learning Communities, //Educational Leadership//,54(3),51-55 Lieberman (2000) Networks as Learning Communities, //Journal of Teacher Education,// 51(3), 221-227 Louis & Kruse (1995) Professionalism and community: Perspectives on reforming urban schools, Thousand Oaks, CA, Corwin Press  Mokhtari, rosemary & Edwards (2007) Making Instructional Decisions Based on Data: What, How and Why.//The Reading Teacher//, 61(4), 354-359 Moss (2004) Invitations and inspirations: Pathways to successful teaching, Carlton South, Curriculum Corporation Nanus (1992) Visionary Leadership, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass Newmann & Wehlage (1995) Successful school restructuring: A report to the public and educators by the Center for Restructuring schools, WI, University of Wisconsin Nonaka & Takeuchi (1995) The Knowledge-creating Company: how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation, Oxford, Oxford University Press Phillips, McNaughton & MacDonald (2004)Managing the mismatch: Enhancing early literacy progress for children with diverse language and cultural identities in mainstream urban schools in New Zealand//.Journal of Educational Psychology//, 96(2), 309-323 Reid (2007) Teachers talking about writing assessment: valuable professional learning? //Improving Schools//, 10 (2), 132-149 Roberts & Pruitt (2009) School as Professional Learning Communities, California, Corwin Press Sather (2009) Leading Professional Learning Teams, London, UK, SAGE Schuck, Sandy, Aubusson, Peter & Buchanan (2008) Enhancing teacher education practice through professional learning conversations, //European Journal of Teacher Education//, 31 (2), 215-227 Sawyer (2007) Group genius: the creative power of collaboration, New York, Basic Books Senge (1990) The Fifth Discipline, :The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation, New York, Doubleday Sergiovanni (1994) Building Community in Schools, San Francisico: Jossey-Bass Silns, Mulfor & Zarins (2002) Organizational learning and school change, Educational Administration Quarterly, 38, 613-642 Sullivan, Clarke & Clarke (2009) Converting mathematics tasks to learning opportunities: an important aspect of knowledge for mathematics teaching Timperley & Robinson (2001) Achieving school improvement through challenging and changing teachers’ schema, //Journal of Educational Change//,2,281-300 Toole & Louis (2002) The role of professional learning communities in international education //The second international handbook of educational leadership// 245-279, Dordrecht, Netherlands Von Krogh et al. (2000) Enabling Knowledge Creation, New York, Oxford University Press Wenger (2001) Communities of practice:learning as a social system. Retrieved April 11,2003 from []

include component="comments" page="Literature Review" limit="10"