One-Room Schoolhouse vs. Professional Learning Communities (PLCs
The one-room schoolhouse is a school consisting of one classroom and one single teacher who taught the basics of academics to several grade levels of elementary-age boys and girls. Countries and overseas had one-room schoolhouse mostly for places which had sparse population like rural areas. Countries such as Ireland, Zeeland, Canada, Australia, and Scandinavia had the system in place. The age of the schoolhouse or the location was standardized. The US developed simple log buildings that were constructed by the pioneer, which were used as schoolhouses. The school houses, in most cases, comprised of one classroom with two walls and an entrance that was simple in the variety and design. The teacher enacted psychological needs that suited every student to cope with the challenges of the monotonous classroom environment. The classroom routine was the same for the students and the teachers. The activities conducted in a day had a schedule which the teacher had to be adhered to. For instance, a science teacher might have had students listen to him or her in a 20-minute presentation, followed by 10 minutes of question and answer. An elementary teacher might have had three reading groups who were supposed to rotate to him or her for 15 minutes each, and every reading group responded to the questions that the teacher posed to them. The group also was supposed to read the materials given by the teacher out loud. The routine of the classroom activities enabled the teacher, in this case, to avoid making decisions. Also, it enabled him or her to avoid inherent conflicts or being overwhelmed by a great psychological responsibility of teaching a huge number of students and neglecting the needs of the individual student in the classroom set up (19).
The professional learning community is a method to enhance collaborative learning among colleagues in a certain work environment. In most cases, it is used in schools to help organize teachers into working groups of professional learning that is based on practice. The primary intention of professional learning communities is to enhance an educator’s knowledge and skills through collaboration, expert exchange, and professional conversation. It is also intended to enhance the aspirations of the educators, achievement as well as student’s attainment through robust leadership and teaching. Professional learning opportunities functions like an action leadership that is a way of questioning, reevaluating, refining and even improving the strategies of teaching and knowledge. Meetings are intended at enabling the educator in charge of the professional learning communities to exchange goals. It is not mandatory to attend the meetings and a great number of schools may appoint one faculty to be partaking in the meetings. The teams in professional learning development are built on shared responsibilities and roles. For instance the teachers who partake in the can be teaching the ninth grade alone or may be teaching the same subject and the mutual characteristics enable them to place more emphasis on the problems that they experience and strategies to deal with them. The main points of reflections are lesson designs, instructional techniques and practices of assessment. The professional learning communities may have different goals.
Impact of One-Room Schoolhouse in education
One-school school house had a great impact on education. The teacher focused on one grade of students at a time and this helped to him or her to understand the various learning needs. Also, the isolation enabled the experienced teachers to learn about the psychological needs of learner and their teaching. There was not collaboration or dialogue with the other teachers because of the isolation. The classroom was quite crowded and the teacher was tasked with the management of the classroom, instructing and constant making of decisions as well as to attend to multiple occurrences. The teacher was judged by how much the class had covered in a given time. There was a strong feeling connected to expectations of the teacher to bring the leaners to a certain level and to meet the needs of the students and they did not have much freedom to make decisions.
One-room schoolhouse learning enhanced diversity. Learners from diverse backgrounds and ethnicity learned in a single class. The learning were able to share their values and beliefs effectively without restrictions. The teacher was also supposed to adhere to a particular work schedule to ensure that all the learning needs and goals are addressed adequately. One-schoolhouse learning system helped the policymakers and other groups of interest to understand the various needs of learning. The needs of the teacher were not met in one schoolhouse learning because it focused more on the leaner and it ended up neglecting the educators. The incessant demand for a small classroom was an indication of a psychological dilemma that the learning environment focused on.
Professional learning communities has a great impact on education because it fosters a shared vision, mission and collectible inquiry through the collaborative teams. In addition enhances continuous improvement on the teaching and learning process. Teacher works together to determine the students who are at risk and teams solve problems to enhance intervention for every student. Professional learning communities are focused more on enhancing student learning and this is the core to effective learning environment. Educators are given a chance to improve teaching and learning directly. Teachers are able to stay on top of the new research and emerging technology tools for the classroom through the collaborative sharing and learning. They are also able to reflect on ideas to come up with strategies that works best for the learners.
Which Theory Would Work Best
The theory that would work best in the current education system is the professional learning community. The approach focuses more on the enhancements of the teaching and learning process through empowerment of the teacher. When teachers are empowered with novel ideas and knowledge, they are able to feel confident about their skills and instructional process. The teachers are also able to identify the various learning needs together, enabling them to devise approaches to deal with them. The one schoolhouse learning focused more on the learnings neglecting the psychological needs of the teachers. Teachers were isolated in one room with the learners and they were not able to share with other professional effectively. Professional learning community helps to address the needs of both the teachers and the students and this is the reason why it would be effective in the current system of education.
Conclusion
The one room schoolhouse learning system of education existed in the pioneer’s days. The teachers were experimenting on various approaches that worked best for the leaners. The main emphasis of the system was the needs of the learners and it ended up neglecting the psychological needs of the teacher. Today, a more collaborative approach (professional learning community) has been put in place to enhance connection between educators to enhance student achievement and teacher development.