An Action Research On The Construction Of Faculty Learning Community

Faculty Professional Development is the core element of educational success.Based on the complexity of teaching and learning as well as various possibilities of their development and changes,Faculty Professional Development movement now requires teachers tend to be more professional and lifelong learning.The latest practical goal emphasize teachers to rethink their teaching practice,reconstruction of the new order of courses,and readjust the expectations of students learning results,and thus to teach in a brand new way.In line with this trend,one of the most recent development paradigms is the Professional Learning Community.Professional Learning Community(PLC)is made up by a group of like-minded teachers based on common beliefs,goals and vision,same as study groups aiming at professional field in pursuit of professional development,they learn by multiple ways such as teaching reflection,share,exchange,cooperation,problem exploration,and observation to carry out a series of Faculty Professional Development activities,and then apply the results of this activity to the practice of teaching,in order to achieve the ultimate goal of improving Student Learning Outcomes.When this kind of Professional Learning Community is applied to the higher education category,it is commonly referred to as the Faculty learning community(FLC).Faculty Learning Community is a special form of community in practice,it is better than the general form of Faculty Professional Development due of its more structured,directive,and contains more concentrated teaching research projects.In building a Faculty Learning Community,five elements are mutual recognition,namely:cooperative learning,practice and explore;shared value,idea and vision;shared leadership;supporting conditions;and student learning as the goal of continuous improvement.On the basis of literature research,this study tries to draw lessons from the development experience of Faculty Learning Community in American universities,explores the establishment of effective experimental FLC case on the practical level in domestic with Action Research Method,thereby to build a new pattern of Faculty Professional Development based on the teachers' cooperative learning.Research is focused on using "plan-action-observation-reflection" operation process of Action Research Method,with in-depth observation and reflection to the change of participators in community from all aspects of teaching,and uses the Interview Method to collect teachers' intuitive thoughts and implicit attitude,evaluates the results of the Faculty Learning Community objectively,so as to put forward the strategies of the development of Faculty Learning Community.In the Action Research,"plan" link focuses on creating a conditions and steps of the Faculty Learning Community,including the "who","what" and "how" three levels,namely:terms,conditions and select principle of the community facilitator and participants;the topic of the community and the selection of learning content;and the specific operation mechanism of the community and the conditions that must be met.Based on this,the research of the official round action of the community is based on the reference and the operation experience of the preparatory round.This case community was established mainly refer to the main standards and framework of Faculty Learning Community,and completed a year cycle,took "Scholarship of Teaching and Learning" theory as the main study subject,through the learning,communication,and the exploration of the basic classic in the areas of the "Scholarship of Teaching and Learning","Faculty Professional Development","Learning Science Theory","Teaching Design",and "Classroom Assessment",intended to inspire community members' interest in teaching and research,thus to promote teaching innovation,and eventually promote the teaching level."Action" step is the key link in the whole process of Action Research Method,mainly means embracing the community subject and the goal,designing the rational and normative content,selecting the appropriate activity form,carefully handling every detail of the process,and timely controlling activity of the adjustment and improvement according to the personal reflection as well as the feedback of the members.Therefore,the experimental FLC case drew lessons from "SOTL-FLC" mode which the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning advocated,and adjusted to form and content on the basis of combining with the case of external conditions and the characteristics of the members of the community,formed the detailed action plan and actual operated,and the specific operation process can be divided into the forming stage,the storming stage,the normalizing and performing stage,and the adjourning.At the same time,the article observe,reflect and adjust the whole process from three aspects:the role of the leader,the motivation and state of the community members,and the difficulty and inadequacy of the operation."Observation" and "reflection" are important links in the evaluation and feedback of the whole process of action research,which is the discussion of the results of the community operation.Firstly,the article analyze from five aspects,that is,the preparation stage,sharing and academic discussions,part of'Scholarship of Teaching and Learning',the scientific nature of the community property,and some dominant research results and refine the community characteristics and bright spot in the process of implementation.Secondly,in the core interview research section,the views of the members are refined and summarized into four aspects.First,join the community:motivation is diverse,teaching confusion is the main cause;Second,review the community:grow up in reflection and gain in interaction;Third,examine the community:external support is insufficient,internal endeavor still needs to persist;Fourth;develop the community:hope to run for a long time.Finally,the problems and deficiencies are reflected from the operation plan,operation process and operation result,and draw the conclusion.In consideration of the observation and reflection on the case community,the description of Interview Research,this dissertation draw the conclusion,namely:FLC is a loose and informal organization,which can enhance member's motivation to participate in the community by increasing their satisfaction;effective cooperation is the core fulcrum of developing the FLC;FLC members generally affirm the development effectiveness of the FLC;the external environment problem is the main constraint to the operation of the FLC;the lack of experience in the design and operation of the FLC can also affect the outcome.On this basis,this dissertation proposes suggestions and strategies for developing the FLC from the perspectives of education institutions,school and teachers,as well as future research.