Discussion 1 : "Learning Organizations and Learning Communities" Please respond to the following:

Examine the similarities and differences between learning organizations and learning communities. Create a scenario where it would be optimal for a learning organization and a learning community to collaborate and join forces.

Imagine that you are a teacher leader in a learning community. Describe the size and environment of your imaginary learning community. Propose at least three reasons why you could be considered a problem solver and an innovator.

Peer Response-

Examine the similarities and differences between learning organizations and learning communities. Create a scenario where it would be optimal for a learning organization and a learning community to collaborate and join forces.

My understanding of the differences between a learning community and a learning organization is that in a learning community is the interaction of groups of students or people who work together academically face to face, or electronically. Unlike a learning organization, a learning community is not considered being a formal organization, instead the curriculum happens to be more of a restructured program.

The use of a learning community helps to increase student learning by linking courses and classwork as it will encourage students and teachers to collaborate together as a team to discuss or resolve any problems or issues that may present itself as a team. As for a learning organization on the other hand, is a formal organization that creates a culture that adapts to change and embraces growth.

The use of a learning organization allows any new members to exchange their ideas and make sense of it as a team. Its said that transforming a school district to a learning organization will help promote profound learners v superficial learners that currently exists in our bureaucratic system.

Scenario:

An optimal learning and community organization joining forces and collaborating with one another would be in team building situation. Dealing with the many personalities on ones grade level there is always that someone who prefers to isolate themselves versus meeting as a whole team.

I believe by incorporating these two organizations during a PLC meeting, or during grade level meetings will be a great way to collaborate and support each other by sharing and linking courses, ideas, and help solve any issues that may arise in their lesson plans. In doing so will certainly ensure that their students will thrive academically and become profound learners in the end.

Imagine that you are a teacher leader in a learning community. Describe the size and environment of your imaginary learning community. Propose at least three reasons why you could be considered a problem solver and an innovator.

If I were a teacher in a learning community it would take place in an elementary school setting K-5. My focus would be in small group interventions that targets all struggling students such as ELL and ESE students.

Stakeholders needed to make this happen will pertain to all ELL support staff, reading teachers, coaches, VE teachers, speech therapists, and general Ed teachers to work and collaborate together share innovative ideas that will help these students be successful academically.

The three reasons why I would be a problem solver would be to:

1. Being objective

2. Being able to keep an open-mind to all suggestions that may be presented.

3. Being a good listener and communicator by jotting down any foreseeable obstacles or potential factors that can get in the way to solving the problem.

As an Innovator:

1. I would identify ones strengths and weakness within my team and build on it.

2. Being a contributor to unconventional ideas.

3. Being creative by developing skills needed to move forward in my learning community.

Schlechty, P.C. (2009). Leading for learning: How to transform schools into learning organizations. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Discussion 2:  "Historical Roots" Please respond to the following:

From the e-Activity, examine the selected event that appears to have been a turning point in the history of education in this country. Determine how this event has impacted today's learning environments. Predict how this event will affect learning environments in the future.

Create a short (one to two paragraphs) speech to deliver to your local school board members that convinces them that a learning organization provides the most stimulating student learning environment. Predict at least two major issues that the school board will foresee encountering and provide solutions for their concerns.

Peer Response:

From the e-Activity, examine the selected event that appears to have been a turning point in the history of education in this country. Determine how this event has impacted today's learning environments. Predict how this event will affect learning environments in the future.

ESEA/Tenth Amendment, Title I, No Child Left Behind- ESEA is still the law of the United States today. However, the law has required periodic reauthorization, which has led to significant changes since 1965. One of the most well-known reauthorizations was President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. NCLB called for 100 percent proficiency in math and reading scores nationwide by 2014 and expanded the role of standardized testing to measure student achievement. This act has been improved by other legislation put in place to support the vision.

As we know education and its dealings are constantly changing. Under President Barack Obama, Race to the Top was established, requiring states to compete for federal grants through a point system, which rewarded certain educational policies and achievements. This resulted in nationwide changes in the way teachers are evaluated and placed even more emphasis on test results. In 2015, Obama signed Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) into law.

This is the latest reauthorization of ESEA and returns some federal power over education back to states, including evaluation measures and teacher quality standards. Since the 1980s, a growing trend in the field of K-12 education has been the growth of school choice and charter schools.

Every state has its own policy regarding these issues, but during the presidential campaign of 2016, President Trump assured that his administration would provide federal money to help students attend a school of their choice. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has dedicated her career to the cause of school choice. New legislation may impact ESEA and the current funding structure that has been the norm for over 50 years, dramatically impacting funding for students in poverty and with special needs.

Create a short (one to two paragraphs) speech to deliver to your local school board members that convinces them that a learning organization provides the most stimulating student learning environment. Predict at least two major issues that the school board will foresee encountering and provide solutions for their concerns.

"Learning organization are formal social organizations that purposefully create, support, and use learning communities and communities of learners as the primary means of inducting new members; creating, developing, importing, and exporting knowledge; assigning tasks and evaluating performances; and establishing goals and maintaining direction" (Schlechty, P.C., 2009, p.115).

By implementing a learning organization, we will be able to create and maintain networks of learning communities and use the networks as the primary means by which the work of the organization is accomplished. Our district continues to face issues with child abuse, neglect, poverty and low-test scores. If our district utilizes a learning organization, it can assist in dealing with these issues.

By altering organizational features this can assist in making education of our youth more appropriate to the times in which they live in. We must leave behind the structure that once worked for us and adopt new practices that can accommodate learners, differentiate instruction and meet their overall needs.