James L. Drexler, PhD, is dean of the social sciences and the Graduate School of Education at Covenant College. He earned his doctorate in educational leadership at St. Louis University and served for 23 years as a middle- and high-school teacher, coach, and administrator in St. Louis.
One of the more startling stories in the Gospels is the account of the demon-possessed man Jesus encounters in the region of the Gerasenes (Matthew 8:28–34, Mark 5:1–20, Luke 8:26–37). The story is unique for a number of reasons—the man had superhuman strength when demon possessed; the demons were so numerous they went by the name Legion; the demons were cast out into a herd of pigs, which promptly ran off the cliff into the lake; and the people were so stunned by what Jesus did they asked him to leave the area. However, one of the most striking things to me is that the demon-possessed man was alone. People evidently tried to help him, even trying to restrain him so he couldn’t hurt himself, but he was ultimately driven to live among the dead in the tombs all by himself. His physical and spiritual suffering was real, but emotionally, this poor soul was certainly forlorn.
Then Jesus came, and He set everything right. Jesus cast out the demons, and immediately the man was redeemed, restored, and renewed—so strikingly different that the townspeople were afraid when they saw him clothed and in his right mind. Then Jesus says something surprising when the delivered man asks to go with Jesus: “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you” (Mark 5:19, NIV).
My point in retelling this story is that this previously demon-possessed man, who at one moment was alone and abandoned among the dead, was sent back to his family, back to relationships, back to his community, and into ministry for the Kingdom. (He must have been a pretty effective missionary, by the way, because when Jesus returned to the area later, we read in Matthew 15:30 that “great crowds came to him [Jesus], bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.”)
Why do so many schools, teachers, and students work in isolation, alone and oftentimes in competition with one another? I don’t mean to suggest that working alone is a sign of demon possession—but rather that God’s design for human beings is that we live, work, and worship together and not alone. We are created and redeemed for community. The Bible makes it clear that we need each other (“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ ” [1 Corinthians 12:21]), and we know from experience that the sum of the whole exceeds the individual contributions of the parts.
Proverbs 13:20 teaches that whoever walks with the wise grows wise. To “walk with the wise” implies living and working with those—whether the church, the family, or the Christian school—who know and believe God’s truth. To walk implies relationship, companionship, and mutual learning as “iron sharpens iron” (Proverbs 27:17). Spiritual growth and maturity are the benefits for those who fear the Lord and seek to follow His commands. To illustrate the benefits of professional learning communities (PLCs), we will briefly consider two facets of schooling.
Community Brings Productive Strength
First, James Coleman theorizes that private religious schools have an inherent strength because they are functional communities that share the same values and beliefs, thus producing “social capital” (1990, 320–21), which in turn allows for the “intergenerational closure” necessary for supporting and encouraging a child’s growth into adulthood (318–19). In addition to the physical capital (buildings and tools) and the human capital (knowledge and skills) that schools possess, there is a social capital, which is equally important in providing a nurturing environment for students (304).
Such communities have a common set of values and expectations and strong generational bonds between adults and children, an environment that makes the transfer of values easier—thus the success of spiritual formation, for example. In other words, the inculcation of values and morals in children within highly functional communities is accomplished more through relationships with parents, relatives, teachers, and respected peers than by television, movies, gangs, or other negative influences.
As Coleman’s work (1990) demonstrates, schools do make a greater difference if the educators are pursuing PLCs. Interested readers can find more in depth on the topic of PLCs in my new book, Nurturing the School Community, but PLCs can be defined as “groups of educators intentionally committed to continual learning for themselves and students through shared values, reflection, and dialogue, all under the guidance of the school’s mission” (Drexler 2011, 48). In short, where there is a tight congruence between values, norms, behaviors, and expectations in schools in which educators are working closely together, there are usually good results academically and morally.
Community Brings Restorative Discipline
Community also shapes classroom management and discipline. The prayerful hope for all discipline in a Christian context is repentance, restitution, and restoration into the community. We know from experience that not all students respond positively to discipline. In fact, one of the most unpleasant challenges any administrator faces is reaching the point when a student must be asked to leave because of continuing discipline problems. But the Bible offers great encouragement to persevere: “Discipline your children, for in that there is hope” (Proverbs 19:18); “Discipline your children, and they will give you peace; they will bring you the delights you desire” (Proverbs 29:17); “We have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it” (Hebrews 12:9). Every Christian school educator prays that each student becomes “one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined” (Titus 1:8).
In a school that is pursuing discipline with restoration in mind and in which faculty and administration are working under the umbrella of PLCs, the potential is exciting:
The Christian school community stresses the restorative power of God’s grace in individual lives and within the world community. In an age of cynicism and hopelessness, Christian school people focus on redemption, restoration, and “shalom”—as seen in history, as depicted in literature, as celebrated by the church. Because grace transcends the balance-sheet approach to life, cooperation comes before competition, service before self-interest. (Vryhof et al. 1989, 27; emphasis in original)
We must always hold these truths before our students: that God is in control of all things, that Jesus Christ has triumphed over sin and death, and that the Holy Spirit lives in the hearts of all believers. God’s grace is a present reality for the Christian, but often we need to pray for ourselves and for our students, as Elisha prayed for his servant, “ ‘Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see’ ” (2 Kings 6:17). For hearts to be drawn to Jesus—and hearts are at the core of Christian schooling—faculty and administration must be pulling in the same direction. Christian education is fundamentally a heart issue, and we must remember that it’s not just a matter of the hearts of students—it begins with the hearts of educators.
What must we do to foster the sort of unity that will result in genuine community? One simple but profound step is for educators, by God’s grace, to keep many of their opinions to themselves as they learn to defer to others while looking for practical and tangible ways to demonstrate love and compassion for one another. If somehow we can learn to stop keeping a record of wrongs, the resulting changes will have a tremendous impact on what and how teachers teach. This new attitude will also change approaches to classroom management and discipline. This does not imply, of course, that teachers should stop teaching the truth or that students should be discouraged from asking questions and engaging in discussion, for both are indispensible for learning. But we must face the stark reality that sin is already rooted in pride and selfishness, and those sins will always be at cross-purposes with community.
As these changes happen, students will see new attitudes of love and respect modeled by teachers and administrators and will be encouraged to treat each other in similar ways. Finally, building godly, grace-filled relationships and community will become one of the school’s most important goals. We need Christian schools in which educators and students care about one another, cheer for each other, and work and learn together in times of need as well as times of abundance.
So how can Christian educators move forward with PLCs? First, do some reading and research on the subject. One place to begin is with Nurturing the School Community (Drexler 2011)—not only for understanding the basics but also for the large number of additional resources included. Next, begin to take a critical look at your school, asking serious questions about its culture:
- Is our school characterized more by community or individualism?
- Is our school more about collaboration or competition?
- Is our daily, weekly, and yearlong calendar conducive to building PLCs?
- Are times scheduled during the week for educators to have meaningful conversations about education?
- What do we assess (and therefore value) at our school? What does our assessment system tell us about the importance of relationships?
- Does our school have a philosophy-of-curriculum statement? If so, what are its key components, and do they reflect a community orientation?
- Is the majority of instruction in our school teacher-driven? Do we use a variety of instructional strategies that encourage group dynamics?
The purpose of PLCs is simple: enhancing learning. Educators must be invested with the discretion to act, and they must receive the support they need to teach. They must be personally involved in continuous learning and led by effective leaders. A culture that promotes collaboration, trust, respect, collegiality, and learning for all will generate new learning and add even more competence. The critical need is to build the skills and knowledge of teachers as professionals, and then focus that capacity on students and their learning. Christian schools can flourish in this task through PLCs.
References
Coleman, James S. 1990. Foundations of Social Theory. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1990.
Drexler, James L. 2011. Nurturing the School Community: Teacher Induction and Professional Learning Communities. Colorado Springs, CO: Purposeful Design.
Vryhof, Steven, Joel Brouwer, Stefan Ulstein, and Daniel Vander Ark. 1989. 12 affirmations: reformed Christian schooling for the 21st Century. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
CSE 15.1 Professional Learning Communities