“Identify Problem”: One of the first steps in PLC work is to identify pedagogical or didactical issues or subject topics that the participants of the PLC want to reflect on and learn more about in order to raise their competencies and to professionalize. It is possible to work on a common topic or several single topics.
The following possibilities for all members of the S-PLC group are given:
- choose individual aspects,
- appoint one or more joint subject topics or
- whilst working on these joint subject topics, focus on the individual aspects within as well.
We advise to choose a common topic in less experienced S-PLCs.
Depending on the setting, basically, these issues are the result of the practical experience of the students or the assignments needed to be worked on in class. The aim is to be supported to cope better with practical challenges they are facing during their teaching exploration or foster scientific issues . Other than that, the topic can also be general typical neuralgic issues for teaching novices in the field of pedagogy and didactics.
Activities
Buzz sessions are short discussion activities that are built into a larger session in order to stimulate discussion and provide student feedback. The purpose of the activity is to identify topics of interest, engage participants with a topic and relate it to their own experience.
The purpose of the activity is to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the participants of a PLC and to state the opportunities and threats that they could face along their joint learning experience.
Raise the students’ awareness of attitudes, behavior and skills that facilitate or interfere with open and supportive communication within a small group.