Information Cascades in Professional Learning Communities

This article discusses information cascades in what is known as a Professional Learning Community (PLC). The article argues that “The fundamental problem with the information cascade is that after a certain point it becomes rational for people to stop paying attention to their own knowledge — their private information — and to start looking instead at the actions of others and imitate them.” Therefore, the author concludes that in groups it is important to try and keep people from thinking about what others are saying, but instead to tell them to make decisions based on their own knowledge.