Using Professional Learning Communities and a Learning Management System to Reach 10,000 Teachers

Abstract Book of the 11th International Conference on Teaching, Learning and Education

Year: 2026

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Using Professional Learning Communities and a Learning Management System to Reach 10,000 Teachers

Dr. Sulila Anar, Kavita Anand, Susan L Hillman

ABSTRACT:

This paper examines a large-scale educational intervention in India, addressing the critical requirement for continuous, needs-based teacher professional development in response to guidelines in India’s National Education Policy (2020). This program, part of a state-wide project, establishes a multi-tiered, subject-based Professional Learning Community (PLC) model (Vescio et al., 2008) to overcome challenges of improving quality of teaching by fostering teacher communities for sharing best practices. The PLCs, in a cascading model, are designed for decentralized, teacher-led change across a challenging mountainous terrain. At the district level, subject-based PLCs led by external Subject Matter Experts united selected teachers as Presidents and Mentors. The Presidents and Mentors then lead PLCS with additional selected teachers as Subject Committee Members to share practices and address pedagogical challenges at the local level. Additionally, a Learning Management System is used to facilitate self-paced professional learning that is contextual, sustainable, and aligned with the PLCs. Effectiveness is assessed through engagement metrics and qualitative evidence of improved instructional practices. The project demonstrates a replicable framework for building a self-sustaining, demand-driven professional ecosystem. By empowering school teachers as agents of change, it aims to directly impact classroom teaching and raise student learning outcomes across Nagaland.

Keywords: Capacity Building Training; Professional Development; Teacher Education; Teaching And Learning; Technology