Faculty Development
through
Faculty Learning
Communities (FLCs)
Based on the work of
Dr. Milt Cox and Dr. Laurie Richlin
Presented by
Noreen Light – nlight@sbctc.edu
Jane Lister Reis – jreis@sccd.ctc.edu
What is a
Faculty Learning Community (FLC)?
• A self-organized group of faculty
(departmental, cross-disciplinary, institution- or
state-wide) who work collaboratively over an
extended period of time to investigate,
research, apply and assess a strategy for the
improvement of teaching and learning.
Why are they effective?
• Faculty learning communities help establish community
connections and achieve most of the outcomes of
student learning communities: increased interest in
learning, retention, active learning, rate of intellectual
development, and civic contributions to the common
good. The safety and support engendered in a
community enable risk taking and the achievement of
both individual and team objectives. Evidence shows
that FLCs provide effective "deep learning" that
encourages and supports faculty to investigate, attempt,
assess, and adopt new methods of teaching.
– Laurie Richlin, Director, Faculty Development,
Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science
What They Are Not:
• A committee
• A book club
• An action research project or inquiry project
• A task force
• A social group or organization
• A “cadre”
But they are: a structure and process for
solving teaching and learning
issues/challenges/problems collaboratively
in an educational setting
10 Necessary Qualities that
make a successful FLC:
• Responsiveness
• Relevance
• Respect
• Openness
• Empowerment
• Safety and trust
• Collaboration
• Challenge
• Enjoyment
• Esprit de corps
How They Can Be Organized:
Cohort Based Around a Common
Inquiry
For instance:
• A group of ESL teachers
• New faculty
• A math department across the skill levels
• Part-time/adjunct faculty
• All department chairs
Topic Based (can include
exempt staff, classified and
students)
For instance:
• Using difference to enhance learning
• Team teaching
• Using cooperative learning to enhance
teaching
• Ethics across the curriculum
• 1st generation college students
How might FLCs help us as
educators?
“How might we make the problematization of
teaching a matter of regular communal
discourse? How might we think of teaching
practice, and the evidence of student learning,
as problems to be investigated, analyzed,
represented, and debated?”
-- Randy Bass, “The Scholarship of
Teaching: What’s the Problem”
Inventio, February 1999
Think/Pair/Share:
What have you observed in your class
about your students’ learning that intrigues
you? (“Patterns of Misunderstanding” - Norden)
What core disciplinary concept or skill
were you teaching?
What’s the key research question?
On your campus, who are the key people
you would like to invite to be part of this
inquiry group?
Places for Support
• Wiki – http://wiki.atlcommunity.sbctc.edu
• Text: Cox, M.D. & Richlin, L. (2004). Building
Faculty Learning Communities: New
Directions for Teaching and Learning, No.
97. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
• www.Insites.org (CLIPS model)
• Websites: Faculty Learning Communities
New Developer’s Institute and Conference;
Ohio Learning Network
Next Steps:
• Let your campus know you’re interested in
starting FLCs on your campus
• Contact Noreen and let her know of your
interest; nlight@sbctc.edu
• Stay connected – let’s work as a statesystem to help bring this movement about
to support
Questions?