The People Who Hold It Together: Developing and Supporting Your PLC Facilitators
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are now a standard feature in most schools. Ask any teacher if they participate in a PLC and they’ll likely say yes. Ask a leader if staff have been trained in the PLC process, and the answer is often yes again.
But despite how common they are, many PLCs still struggle to move the needle on student learning. The challenge is rarely one of intention, it’s usually a breakdown in the system that supports the work. And at the center of that system are the people we often overlook: PLC facilitators.
These are the educators tasked with guiding adult learning, managing personalities, holding space for collaborative inquiry, and keeping the work anchored in instruction. Yet far too often, we assign someone to be a facilitator and then step back without training them, without coaching them, and without building the structures they need to thrive.
As VOYAGE Horizons Module 1: The Source of the Issue highlights, many breakdowns in PLCs are not due to unwilling participants, but rather to mismatches in support. When PLCs falter, it's often a gap in skill, knowledge, motivation, or resources, not a lack of effort.
“The success or failure of PLCs can often be traced back to a deficiency in skill, knowledge, motivation, or resources.”
— VOYAGE Horizons, Module 1
To lead an effective PLC system, school leaders must start by building up the people who carry the work forward. Here's how to do that practically and purposefully.
Choosing with Intention
Facilitator selection is too often treated as a logistical decision. We pick someone based on availability, experience, or the fact that they’ve led something before. But facilitation isn’t about seniority or subject expertise. It’s about adult leadership.
The most impactful facilitators may not be the loudest voice or the one who volunteers first. They are often the educators who build relational trust, think systemically, and are deeply committed to student learning. They may not see themselves as leaders yet, but they ask questions, remain steady in tough moments, and care about doing things well.
Selecting the right facilitator starts with asking better questions: Who do teachers naturally turn to for support or clarity? Who reflects after team meetings and wants to get better? Who shows potential that could grow with coaching?
What Growth Mindset Really Looks Like
We say we want facilitators with a growth mindset, but often, we misunderstand what that means.
A growth mindset does not mean constant optimism or quiet compliance. In fact, people with a growth mindset are often the ones willing to name what isn’t working, express frustration, or point out where the system is falling short. That doesn’t mean they’re negative. It means they care.
What defines a growth mindset isn’t whether someone notices problems. It’s what they do afterward. Do they stay in the work? Reflect? Ask for help? Try again?
When choosing facilitators, don’t overlook someone simply because they ask hard questions. The best facilitators are often those who believe things can improve and are willing to lead that improvement from within.
From Assigned to Equipped
Being appointed to lead a PLC doesn’t automatically prepare someone for the role. Facilitation is a learned skill, and it requires targeted development. Even confident, capable teachers may struggle when asked to lead adults through collaboration, data discussions, or conflicting perspectives.
This is where many schools fall short. A one-time training on how to use a protocol or fill out a form isn’t enough. Facilitators need support in navigating real-life scenarios: How do you manage dominant voices? How do you refocus a team without shutting people down? How do you guide inquiry rather than giving answers?
Using the diagnostic lens from VOYAGE Horizons Module 1, leadership teams can identify whether facilitators are struggling due to lack of skill, knowledge, motivation, or resources—and then plan support accordingly. A facilitator who lacks confidence in handling group dynamics needs coaching and practice. One who misunderstands the learning cycle needs deeper training. One who feels isolated or unsupported may need more relational connection and visible leadership backup.
Facilitator growth should be embedded, not episodic. Leaders can offer support through pre-meeting planning, side-by-side modeling, quick debriefs, and regular feedback loops. Tools like the “I Notice / I Wonder” reflection sheet help facilitators self-assess and track growth over time, which reinforces autonomy while still offering guidance.
The goal isn’t perfect meetings. It’s developing confident facilitators who continue to grow throughout the year.
Support Without Overfunctioning
Leadership teams often make the mistake of stepping in too quickly when a facilitator struggles. We guide the meeting, redirect the team, or manage conflict ourselves all in the name of being helpful.
But when we do that, we unintentionally create dependency. The facilitator stops leading because someone else always steps in.
Support doesn’t mean solving. It means coaching in context and building leadership capacity over time.
Instead of taking over, leaders can observe, reflect with the facilitator afterward, or model a key move in the moment then step back. Within the Leadership PLC, teams should analyze facilitator growth trends, review PLC artifacts, and use the Identifying the Source tool to track patterns and tailor support. Over time, this creates a system that reinforces facilitator independence while still offering a safety net.
Normalize the Learning Curve
Facilitation is messy work and that’s okay.
Leaders must create a culture where mistakes are treated as part of the process. Just like we don’t expect students to master complex skills overnight, we can’t expect facilitators to lead flawlessly from the start.
Leadership teams can normalize the learning curve by modeling their own growth, sharing examples of real challenges, and celebrating small wins. When a facilitator tries something new, even if it’s clunky, that’s a success. When they ask for help, that’s progress.
This mindset shift from perfection to progress is what allows facilitator development to flourish long-term.
Real Case: When Targeted Support Works
A fifth-grade PLC seemed functional on the surface. Meetings happened regularly. Agendas were followed. But one teacher dominated the conversation while another, whose students were excelling, barely spoke. The facilitator, new to the role, didn’t know how to shift the dynamic.
Instead of reacting or blaming, the Leadership PLC used the VOYAGE diagnostic lens. They determined the facilitator wasn’t avoiding leadership, she simply didn’t have the skill yet to manage power dynamics and encourage equity of voice.
The team developed a short-term plan: A coach modeled facilitation moves during one meeting. The facilitator practiced with feedback. Leadership attended strategically, not to lead, but to reinforce her authority. Reflection tools helped her track growth week to week.
The outcome? A more balanced conversation, stronger engagement from all team members, and a facilitator who grew into her role with confidence. All because the system supported her development with intention.
Recap: What to Look For in Your PLC Facilitators
If your PLC system is going to work, it starts with the people leading the collaboration. And that doesn’t mean picking the most vocal, the most experienced, or the most compliant staff members. It means choosing people who are ready, or willing to grow, into the complex role of guiding adult learning.
Here’s what to prioritize when identifying potential facilitators:
Relational trust – Are they respected by their peers?
Emotional intelligence – Can they listen well, manage conflict, and keep the group focused?
Openness to feedback – Do they respond to challenges with reflection and curiosity?
Instructional mindset – Are they grounded in student learning and pedagogy?
Systems thinking – Can they connect team conversations to schoolwide priorities?
And perhaps most importantly, look for someone who embodies a true growth mindset, not because they never name issues, but because they stay committed to solving them.
Questions to Ask Potential Facilitators
When considering who might step into the facilitator role, use reflective conversations to help uncover readiness and growth potential. Here are a few questions to guide those conversations:
How do you approach collaboration when everyone at the table has strong opinions?
What do you do when a conversation goes off track in a team setting?
Tell me about a time you facilitated a discussion. What felt successful? What was challenging?
What would make leading a PLC meaningful for you? What might feel hard about it?
How do you typically respond to feedback?
When you see something in your team that isn’t working, what’s your approach to addressing it?
You’re not looking for perfect answers. You’re looking for evidence of reflection, willingness to grow, and alignment with your school’s values around learning and leadership.
What Happens After You Identify the Right People
Identifying the right facilitators is just the beginning.
In the next blog post, we’ll explore how to move from selection to support. You’ll learn how to design training that goes beyond the basics and build a yearlong development plan that grows facilitators’ confidence, competence, and capacity without overwhelming them.
Because once you’ve chosen the right people, the next step is making sure they’re never left to lead alone.
