Making meaning out of noise

Purpose The environments provided by classrooms to facilitate learning among students can be seen as useful vehicles for making meaning out of gossip, lies, exaggeration and partial truths (i.e. counter-knowledge). This paper aims to focus on professional learning communities as a process to counteract the problem of counter-knowledge. Design/methodology/approach This paper has analysed the relationships between professional-learning communities and counter-knowledge using an empirical study of 210 undergraduate students to identify whether there is a significant impact on student achievement by professional learning communities. This study uses PLS-Graph software version 3.0 to conduct an analysis of the data collected. Findings Outcome findings support that professional learning communities provide a way of counteracting counter-knowledge and the noise heard through gossip, lies, exaggeration and partial truths. Originality/value Results also confirm that counter-knowledge is a variable that, when controlled, has the effect of strengthening the relationship between learning and student achievement.