Development of an intervention framework for school improvement that is adaptive to cultural context

2021 ◽  
pp. 136548022110519
Author(s):  
Anna Kristín Sigurðardóttir ◽  
Börkur Hansen ◽  
Berglind Gísladóttir
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Collaboration ◽  
Change Process ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Drivers Of Change ◽  
Process Of Change ◽  
High Level

The challenge of educational improvement, due mainly to the complexity of educational systems, is well-known. The aim of this study is to provide knowledge regarding the process of change within schools to better understand how it might depend on cultural context and the characteristics of individual schools. Based on interventions in four compulsory schools (6–15 years old students) in Iceland, the study uses both qualitative and quantitative data. The process of change was guided by a framework grounded in professional learning community principles and designed to be adaptive for cultural contexts as well as the interdependence of different factors of educational systems. Theories of drivers of change and indicators of schools as professional learning communities were used to understand cultural conditions within them. The main findings indicate that the change process in team-driven schools with relatively high levels of teacher collaboration and engagement works well in the framework. By contrast, the change process seemed restrained in the profession-driven and problem-driven schools characterised by either a high level of teacher autonomy and lack of collaboration or engagement in solving several generic problems. The study provided valuable insights regarding the complexity of facilitating change, particularly, the importance of identifying main drivers of change affecting an intervention process at the initiation stage.

scholarly journals Blog-based professional development of English teachers in Mumbai: The potential of innovative practice under scrutiny

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atiya Khan
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Collaboration ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Interactive Workshop

The professional development of teachers in India is still, by and large, based on formal and outdated professional learning traditions, often characterised by crash courses and one-off workshops. In education, blogs have proven to be an effective means of establishing and maintaining collaborative learning networks and helping members reflect on their professional practices. Information and communications technology (ICT) enabled practices of teacher professional development is still in its infancy in India. Moreover, there is limited research in India to secure foundational understanding of how and in what ways teachers of English in India use blogs for their professional development. This study explores the use of teacher reflective practice, teacher networking, and teacher collaboration, beyond formal ICT training, through blog-based professional development of English teachers in the Mumbai region of India. Using data collected from 32 teachers from three private schools in Mumbai, through ICT interactive workshop observations, questionnaires, interviews, and blog comments, this action case study explains whether and why blogging, as a learning community, has the potential to add significant value to existing professional development of English teachers in Mumbai.

scholarly journals THE INFLUENCE OF TEACHER’S ATTITUDE, READINESS AND SELF- EFFICACY ON PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY (PLC)

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (7) ◽  
pp. 76-89
Author(s):  
Adriana Muhamad Akhir ◽  
Muhamad Suhaimi Taat ◽  
Syahrul Nizam Salam
Keyword(s):  
Path Analysis ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Teacher Professionalism ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
New Policies ◽  
High Level

The purpose of this study was to examine the direct and indirect effects of teacher’s attitude, readiness, and self-efficacy on the implementation of the Professional Learning Community (PLC) at urban secondary school teachers in Sabah. Quantitative studies using the survey method were used in this study which involved the total number of 360 teachers as the respondents in this study. Questionnaires were used as the instrument to collect the data. The data obtained were analyzed through Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 25.0 and AMOS. The statistical analysis used were descriptive statistics involving frequency and percentage while inferential statistics involving multiple regression and SEM (path analysis) were used. The results of the structural model of path analysis showed that all three predictor variables were significantly affected by the criterion variable with 18.8%. Teacher’s self-efficacy was found to have the greatest direct impact on the implementation of PLC with the beta value of 0.30. The implications of this study are to increase the level of attitude and readiness of teachers towards the implementation of PLC so that the teachers will possess a high level of self-efficacy. It is hoped that this study will help to formulate new policies related to teacher professionalism development.

A review of research on professional learning communities in mainland China (2006–2015)

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 713-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuefeng Qiao ◽  
Shulin Yu ◽  
Limin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Collaboration ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Research Groups ◽  
12Th Grade ◽  
Emerging Themes

In the last decade, there has been growing interest in professional learning communities (PLCs) outside mainstream Western contexts. In this paper, we provide a narrative synthesis of empirical studies of PLCs in kindergarten to 12th grade educational systems in mainland China published between 2006 and 2015. The review reveals five major emerging themes in the published literature: PLC characteristics; PLC practices in different regions; teacher collaboration in PLCs; the roles of university researchers; and educational leadership in PLCs. Significant progress has been identified in the enhancement of social harmony in teaching research groups, structural teacher collaboration, the construction of transregional PLCs and the complex roles of university researchers and school leaders. However, compared with the literature on PLCs in Western contexts, research on these communities in mainland China is still far from mature. The authors highlight the need for more empirically solid research on the development of sustainable PLCs in mainland China.

School culture and leadership of professional learning communities

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 682-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
School Culture ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Shared Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Policies And Procedures

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore supportive and shared leadership structures at schools as a function of school culture policies and procedures. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative study was conducted at three secondary schools in the Midwestern USA. Administrators and teachers were interviewed, professional learning communities observed and artifacts collected to explore school culture policies, procedures and leadership in the implementation of professional learning community practice. Findings – This study concludes that school leaders must provide supportive and shared leadership structures for teachers in order to ensure a positive school culture and effective professional learning communities that impact school improvement. Leaders in schools must work directly with teachers to create policies and procedures that provide teachers the leadership structure to directly impact school improvement through professional learning community collaborative efforts. Originality/value – This study builds on the school culture and professional learning communities literature by exploring existent policies and practices in schools as unique cases. Much of the literature calls for specific case studies to identify issues in the implementation of effective practice. This study is important to the community as specific cases that may inform educational leaders on mechanisms that may be leveraged to ensure successful implementation of policies and procedures outline in school culture and professional learning community literature.

scholarly journals Elementary Schools Working as Professional Learning Communities: Effects on Student Learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
André Moulakdi ◽  
Yamina Bouchamma
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Schools ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Improvement Strategy ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
And Mathematics

The professional learning community (PLC) is considered to be an effective school improvement strategy centered on student achievement. The goal of this study was to introduce the PLC approach in a few public elementary schools in Cameroon to evaluate the causal impact of this organizational model on student learning. A quasi-experimental approach was used involving an experimental group and a control group. Student pre- and post-tests were administered in two core subjects (French and mathematics) at both the beginning and the end of the first year of operation as a PLC. Our findings show a significant improvement in the students’ results between the pre- and post-test. The PLC was qualified as being in its initiation stage of development, when members focus on their students’ outcomes and collectively engage in solving the latter’s learning-related difficulties.

A Taxonomy of Instructional Learning Opportunities in Teachers’ Workgroup Conversations

2016 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilana Seidel Horn ◽  
Brette Garner ◽  
Britnie Delinger Kane ◽  
Jason Brasel
Keyword(s):  
School Districts ◽  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Collaboration ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Urban School Districts ◽  
Sampled Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Collective Work ◽  
Work Supports

Many school-improvement efforts include time for teacher collaboration, with the assumption that teachers’ collective work supports instructional improvement. However, not all collaboration equally supports learning that would support improvement. As a part of a 5-year study in two urban school districts, we collected video records of more than 100 mathematics teacher workgroup meetings in 16 different middle schools, selected as “best cases” of teacher collaboration. Building off of earlier discursive analyses of teachers’ collegial learning, we developed a taxonomy to describe how conversational processes differentially support teachers’ professional learning. We used the taxonomy to code our corpus, with each category signaling different learning opportunities. In this article, we present the taxonomy, illustrate the categories, and report the overall dearth of meetings with rich learning opportunities, even in this purposively sampled data set. This taxonomy provides a coding scheme for other researchers, as well as a map for workgroup facilitators aiming to deepen collaborative conversations.

scholarly journals Harbors of Hope: The Planning for School and Student Success Process

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonya Pancucci
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Effective Schools ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Practical Knowledge ◽  
Senior Consultant ◽  
School Improvement Planning

Hope, schools, professional learning communities,and school improvement planning – what links these words? According to Hulley and Dier (2005), hope is the key to achieving successful and effective schools through reculturing with professional learning communities as the vehicle for change in the school improvement process. Wayne Hulley, president of Canadian Effective Schools Incorporated and senior consultant for the Franklin Covey Company, has 35 years of experience in North America working in the area of school improvement. Co-author Linda Dier has extensive knowledge having worked for 30 years in education systems in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Currently, she is senior consultant with Canadian Effective Schools Inc. and administrator of the Canadian Effective Schools League. Together, Hulley and Dier have written a text for educators and administrators at the district, board, and school levels, combining research theory with the practical knowledge gained in their joint 70+ years’ experience in education to provide a comprehensive planning process for school improvement. This text presents a step-by- step process that notes the highs and lows or « implementation dips » of the school improvement cycle. The authors have utilized the learning community model of professional development as a vehicle to facilitate, guide, direct, and sustain change towards successful and effective schools.

scholarly journals PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY (PLC) AND TEACHER MOTIVATION AT SECONDARY SCHOOL IN JELI DISTRICT

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (42) ◽  
pp. 14-29
Author(s):  
Siti Noor Ismail ◽  
Wan Rosni Wan Yakob ◽  
Noraida Mustapai ◽  
Tuan Roslina Tuan Mat
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Teacher Motivation ◽  
Research Instrument ◽  
Quality Of Teaching ◽  
High Level

The Professional Learning Community (PLC) practice is a strategy to encourage collaboration among teachers in schools to create more quality of teaching and student achievement can be improved. However, the practice of PLC is still not fully implemented because there are still school leaders who are incompetent in management and also teachers do not understand the practice of PLC in more depth. Therefore, this study aims to identify the level of PLC practice and the level of teacher motivation in five secondary schools, Jeli District. Quantitative methods are used where the questionnaire is as a research instrument. A total of 171 teachers in the schools participated by answering the questionnaires that were distributed. The research instrument to measure PLC practice was adapted from the Professional Learning Community Assessment-Revised (PLCA-R) while the Assessment of Teacher Motivation Questionnaire (ATMQ) was used to measure the level of teacher motivation. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 26.0. The results of the study found that the practice of PLC and teacher motivation is implemented at a high level. The implications of this study showed that the practice of KPP is very important to be implemented in schools to increase teacher motivation which in turn can further improve the quality of teaching and learning towards student excellence.

scholarly journals The Learning Community’s Program – a Fresh Approach to the Single Teacher

1970 ◽  
pp. 403-412
Author(s):  
Daphne Cohen-Brenner
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Doctoral Studies ◽  
Process Of Change ◽  
Learning Abilities ◽  
Physics Learning ◽  
Physics Teacher ◽  
Instruction Quality

Promoting physics studies depends highly on the teacher’s instruction quality. This paper re-examines the influence of participation in a learning community on the teacher’s professional development. As an outcome, improving his students’ physics learning abilities, in light of theories on the process of change, is obtained thanks to the teacher participating the progra Daphne Cohen Brenner is a physics teacher and district instructor in Israel, leading a professional learning community. The article is based on the Ph.D. thesis written at AMU University in the framework of doctoral studies in education.

Within-School Differences in Professional Learning Community Effectiveness: Implications for Leadership

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 424-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Voelkel ◽  
Janet H. Chrispeels
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Principal Leadership ◽  
Teacher Collaboration ◽  
Teacher Behavior ◽  
Student Work ◽  
Team Members ◽  
High Functioning ◽  
School Differences

Research suggests effective professional learning communities (PLCs) enhance teacher collaboration and student achievement. Within-school variation in PLC processes, however, is underexplored. This study highlights differences in teacher behavior and teams’ perceptions of principal leadership in well-functioning teams versus less well-functioning ones. Analysis of interviews of principals and team members showed teams differed in intensity of analysis of student work and the level of changes in instructional practices. High-functioning teams felt supported by the principal while the less well-functioning teams did not. These findings suggest the need for more active principal facilitation of PLCs to achieve full benefits.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document