Last updated 12th December 2006

Site hosted by the University of Bristol

Creating and Sustaining Effective Professional Learning Communities Final Report Published 26-May-2005

Research Brief (2MB.pdf)

Now available
General Primary and Secondary reports.

eplc and Blackboard
Secure communication for eplc project members and contributors.

ICSEI conference in Rotterdam
2004 International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement Conference.

First eplc workshops held.

The Effective Professional Learning Communities project is a study of effective professional learning communities in schools and of how they are created and sustained. It is an exciting, new, collaborative venture between the Universities of Bristol and Bath and the Institute of Education, University of London, which is funded by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), General Teaching Council for England (GTC) and the National College for School Leadership (NCSL)

Taking place from January 2002 to October 2004, it will examine for the first time in this country:
 what a professional learning community is
 what makes it effective
 how such a community is created and sustained

Project Aims

While definitions of what constitutes a professional learning community vary, international research suggests that they are characterised by:
 shared values and vision
 collective responsibility for pupils learning
 reflective professional inquiry
 collaboration
 the promotion of group, as well as individual, learning

Our working definition is:

An effective professional learning community has the capacity to promote and sustain the learning of all professionals in the school community with the collective purpose of enhancing pupil learning.

Our broad aims are to identify and provide practical examples of:

During the course of the project we hope to generate models of different types and developmental stages of learning communities and to disseminate our findings to practitioners.