Professional Learning Communities-Quality Concerns in Higher Education
Dr. Anuradha Sindhwani*, Coordinator, IQAC, K. M. College of Education, Bhiwani, Haryana.
Our university system is, in many parts, in a state of disrepair...In almost half the districts in the country, higher education enrollments are abysmally low, almost two-third of our universities and 90 per cent of our colleges are rated as below average on quality parameters... I am concerned that in many states university appointments, including that of vice-chancellors, have been politicised and have become subject to caste and communal considerations, there are complaints of favouritism and corruption. -Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2007.
Demand for higher educated manpower will increase substantially in the near future and this will impel central focus on the quality and quantity of manpower produced by the higher education system. Both for quantitative expansion and improvement in quality, the system requires large additional resources. This article focuses on the professional community of learners, in which the teachers in a university or college and its administrators continuously seek and share learning and then act on what they learn. The goal of their actions is to enhance their effectiveness as professionals so that students benefit. This arrangement has also been termed communities of continuous inquiry and improvement. It represents an abbreviation of Hord's review of the literature (1997), which explored the concept and operationalization of professional learning communities and their outcomes for staff and students. The purpose of this article is to explore professional learning communities while taking a look at how they impact institutional improvement and their place in strategic planning in education.
India has experienced appreciable growth in the number of institutions of higher education during last six decades and particularly since 1990. This growth has already been... [continues]
Dr. Anuradha Sindhwani*, Coordinator, IQAC, K. M. College of Education, Bhiwani, Haryana.
Our university system is, in many parts, in a state of disrepair...In almost half the districts in the country, higher education enrollments are abysmally low, almost two-third of our universities and 90 per cent of our colleges are rated as below average on quality parameters... I am concerned that in many states university appointments, including that of vice-chancellors, have been politicised and have become subject to caste and communal considerations, there are complaints of favouritism and corruption. -Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2007.
Demand for higher educated manpower will increase substantially in the near future and this will impel central focus on the quality and quantity of manpower produced by the higher education system. Both for quantitative expansion and improvement in quality, the system requires large additional resources. This article focuses on the professional community of learners, in which the teachers in a university or college and its administrators continuously seek and share learning and then act on what they learn. The goal of their actions is to enhance their effectiveness as professionals so that students benefit. This arrangement has also been termed communities of continuous inquiry and improvement. It represents an abbreviation of Hord's review of the literature (1997), which explored the concept and operationalization of professional learning communities and their outcomes for staff and students. The purpose of this article is to explore professional learning communities while taking a look at how they impact institutional improvement and their place in strategic planning in education.
India has experienced appreciable growth in the number of institutions of higher education during last six decades and particularly since 1990. This growth has already been... [continues]
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