The process of designing social systems, including educational systems, is most likely to contribute to sustainable systems if the context for the design process is that of community.
From a systems perspective, the people who serve the system and those who are served and affected by the system constitute the designing community (Banathy, 1996). The concept of design of professional learning communities for educators is particularly critical as we face the 21st century, given the historically dismal prospects for meaningful, substantive, professional development for teachers and other practitioners (Wilson & Berne, 1999).
The purpose of this chapter is to examine the role and nature of conversation in designing professional development communities for teachers and other educators.
- Elementary Education and Teaching,
- Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching,
- Other Teacher Education and Professional Development,
- Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education,
- Secondary Education and Teaching and
- Teacher Education and Professional Development
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/kathryn_kinnucan-welsch/5/
Citation information for the book in which this chapter appears: Banathy, Bela H., and Patrick M. Jenlink. 2005. Dialogue as a means of collective communication. n.p.: New York : Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.