Implementing Professional Learning Communities in Low-Enrolment Schools
Part 2 – Building and Sustaining the Practice
From Concept to Action
In Part 1 we saw that small schools are not too small for professional learning communities — they are often just right for them. The challenge now is to turn that conviction into a living practice. As DuFour (2004) reminds us, a PLC is not a meeting schedule; it is a habit of collaborative inquiry. For schools with one teacher per subject, the question becomes: How do we organise collaboration when the "team" is the whole school?
1. Forming Cross-Disciplinary PLC Teams
Start by breaking the myth that PLCs must be subject-specific. Harris and Jones (2010) argue that cross-disciplinary collaboration broadens teachers' professional lenses and helps them examine learning through multiple perspectives. In a small school, a mathematics teacher and an English teacher might co-analyse students' reasoning in both word problems and essays.
A practical starting point is to form one whole-school PLC that meets weekly or fortnightly. Each teacher leads an inquiry area aligned with school priorities — for example:
- Literacy across the curriculum
- STEM engagement
- Student wellbeing and attendance
- Assessment for learning
Rotating leadership keeps ownership shared. When Owen (2014) studied small-school PLCs in Australia, she found that rotating facilitation built confidence and reduced hierarchy, allowing teachers to take real professional risks together.
2. Choosing a Sharp Focus
Too many initiatives die from over-ambition. Stoll et al. (2006) emphasise that successful PLCs narrow their inquiry to one clear question such as "How can we improve students' ability to explain their thinking?" or "How can formative feedback increase engagement in science?"
Use short inquiry cycles — about six to eight weeks. During each cycle, teachers collect classroom evidence, try new strategies, and bring back results. A shared tracking sheet or simple Google Form can help visualise progress without adding paperwork.
3. Designing Meetings that Matter
The effectiveness of a PLC often depends on the quality of its meetings. Hargreaves and O'Connor (2018) describe high-impact collaboration as "learning talk, not meeting talk." To achieve that, use a structure such as:
- Opening reflection (5 min): each teacher shares a success or challenge from the week.
- Evidence review (10 min): one member presents a short data snapshot — a student sample, attendance pattern, or feedback result.
- Inquiry dialogue (15 min): group discussion linking evidence to practice; peers pose questions, not judgments.
- Action planning (10 min): agree on one small classroom experiment before next meeting.
Keep minutes brief but visible — a living document of collective learning. In small schools, transparency builds momentum.
4. Building a Culture of Trust and Feedback
Trust does not appear automatically; it grows from predictable behaviour and respectful dialogue. Louis and Marks (1998) found that schools with explicit collaboration norms — listening protocols, rotating roles, confidentiality agreements — sustain deeper learning conversations.
Leaders play a quiet but decisive role here. Instead of directing the PLC, they model vulnerability: sharing their own classroom dilemmas, inviting feedback, and celebrating small wins publicly. Hargreaves and Fullan (2012) call this "professional capital in action" — a culture where everyone, including the principal, is a learner.
5. Documenting Impact Without Bureaucracy
Documentation should illuminate learning, not burden teachers. Create one shared folder (digital or physical) containing:
- the PLC's guiding question;
- meeting notes (concise bullet summaries);
- short evidence samples (student work, observation notes);
- reflection entries on what changed.
These artifacts serve two purposes: they demonstrate progress to external stakeholders and, more importantly, make professional growth visible to the teachers themselves. Harris and Jones (2017) highlight that when teachers see the story of improvement, motivation accelerates.
6. Sustaining Momentum
The first months of a PLC often feel exciting, but sustaining energy requires rhythm. Use the school calendar to anchor the PLC — for example, linking cycles to term assessments or review weeks. Recognise milestones: a shared lunch after the first inquiry cycle or a short newsletter showing collective gains. Small rituals signal that collaboration is part of the school's DNA, not a passing project.
Leaders should also plan reflection pauses each term to revisit the PLC's focus, success indicators, and norms. As Stoll et al. (2006) caution, PLCs must evolve with context; static routines risk becoming mechanical.
Closing Reflection
In small or low-enrolment schools, the absence of subject partners can feel daunting, but it also offers unmatched intimacy for professional learning. When every teacher's voice is heard, when data becomes a shared curiosity rather than a private burden, and when collaboration is structured yet humane, teaching becomes less lonely — and learning more collective.
PLCs give that structure and spirit. They are not theoretical ideals; they are practical frameworks proven to thrive even in the smallest of schools.
In Part 3, we'll explore how to measure and showcase the impact of PLCs — through student outcomes, teacher reflection, and community confidence — so that the cycle of learning becomes a habit of excellence.