Developing a learning community

7 steps towards a dynamic learning community

The International Scientific Committee on Learning Communities was inspired by Ann Brown’s 7 models to formulate milestones indicating that a class is evolving in a dynamic learning community (Laferrière, 2005):

1. a class operation to encourage democratic change in roles for teachers and students,
2. authentic and real problems that engage learners,
3. common learning goals,
4. a progressive dialogue to enable the development of knowledge,
5. a diversity of knowledge and individual skills to solve complex problems,
6. a cohesive but open community, and
7. actively engaged in teacher professional development.

The 8 dimensions of a learning community, by Bielaczyc and Collins

According to Bielaczyc and Collins (1999), eight dimensions must be present to create a successful learning community.

1. Common goal of community: The participants mutually help each other to solve the problem based on their diverse perspectives and the knowledge and skills of each. They must therefore necessarily all share the common goal.
2. Learning activities: In a learning community it is important that the result or progress of learning is visible and shared. Activities should be clear and meaningful, they must be well articulated and integrated as a system of activities whose components interact each other.
3. Teaching role and relationship of power: The teacher provides a framework and rather acts as a facilitator, a guide. Students are responsible for their own learning and that of the group, they are able to assess themselves and are involved in the evaluation of the performance of the group.
4. Centralization-Peripherality and Identity: In his own knowledge and skills, each participant will be occasionally in the center, acting as a resource, and occasionally on the outskirts, observer. This shift provides an opportunity for each to assess its contribution and breaks the power channel oriented toward teacher.
5. Resources: The members themselves and the community are important resources. They are resources with all that they can bring themselves or through other resources which they have access both internally and externally.
6. Discourses: In a learning community, language emerges from the negotiations, the co-construction and interaction with varied sources of information. Language is how to articulate the evolution of learning, assumptions, goals, etc.
7. Knowledge: For the community to progress in their knowledge, every aspect of a question must be understood by all participants. The consensus requirement imposes a deeper understanding of key ideas or principles involved in the learning process.
8. Product: Learners work together to produce artifacts that are reused by the community to continue their understanding.