A DIPLC is a model of a professional learning community that was developed and formulated in Israel in recent years. Its aim is to promote knowledge, content and pedagogical skills within a specific discipline or role in order to contribute to the teachers’ professional learning and practices and thus improve their students’ learning.
The main elements in a DIPLC’s work
DIPLCs are dedicated to the idea that teachers need to ensure that all students learn essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions. The focus of a DIPLS is not “what or how should we teach” but rather “what must the students learn”.
Teachers in a DIPLC collaborate on a variety of topics related to their classroom practices.
DIPLC members engage in collective inquiry of best practices both in teaching and in learning. They need an acute sense of curiosity and openness to new ideas and methods, and are in constant search for better ways to achieve goals and accomplish the purpose of the DIPLC.
Participants assess their learning and practices on the basis of results and not on intentions
Modus Operandi of a DIPLCs in Israel
In Israel we operate the fan/network model. Teachers’ communities are led by two facilitators and operate under the auspices of a professional institute that specializes in their particular discipline. This is a multidirectional, hierarchical model – the academic institute sets up a “facilitators’ community” comprising facilitators from the various field communities, presents them with an innovative disciplinary content (skills, content knowledge and relevant teaching strategies), and provides them with skills for facilitating learning communities.
The members of the facilitators’ community examine the contents, and those found suitable, are implemented in the field communities (Aricha & Marzel, 2021). Concurrently, activities suggested by teachers in a particular field community are presented at the facilitators’ community and thus are disseminated to the other communities. In this manner, the contents move up and down the fan, benefiting all the teachers who are members of the network of communities (Yayon et. al., 2021).
The DIPLC research and development department, Mofet institute
In Israel this method was originally the initiative of teachers and of academia.
In 2016 The MOFET Institute established an R&D unit with the aim to regularize DIPLCs in the Israeli education system; develop and help maintain DIPLC programs; manage forums and initiate courses for those interested in leading DIPLCs; and develop and perform systemic research to examine the influence of communities on their participants.