Initiating
and Maintaining PLC – Role and Relevance of the SISC+
Rumuthamalar
A/P Rajaratnam
Kuala
Muda / Yan District Education Office, Sungai Petani, Kedah
Abstract
One
of the many roles expected of a School Improvement Specialist Coach (SISC+) is
that of an initiator and maintenance crew of a professional learning community
within the schools visited and the school district served. The notion of an
instructional coach is a revolutionary initiative by MOE to bring about
transformation and change in the teaching and learning practices of our
schools’ teachers. A crucial finding of my visits to schools is that a majority
of our teachers are solo artistes who perform to their own private audience
(the students) and one teacher is hardly aware of what the other teacher may be
doing in the next class. Collaborating, sharing and networking are often
side-stepped for the seemingly more important clerical tasks. This paper will
attempt to explain and justify the role and relevance SISC+s play in getting
teachers to sit down together, reflect on their own teaching practices and
students’ learning experiences, design and build workable and creatively
scaffolded learning activities and materials, try these plans out in their
respective classes, get back together to amend, improve upon and perfect lesson
plans as a panel of reflective practitioners. It will showcase two schools in
the Kuala Muda Yan district where the SISC+ has successfully initiated and is
maintaining learning communities that meet frequently and are working on
producing their very own PLC bulletin. The paper will suggest the gradual
scaffolding which can be provided by the SISC+ in her/his role as resource
provider, critical friend, learning facilitator and classroom supporter.
