Leadership for Teacher Professional Learning: A Case Study of Two ‘New-High-Quality’ Primary Schools in Shanghai

Author(s):  
Jie Cao ◽  
Nicholas Sun-keung Pang
2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joonkil Ahn

This study intends to identify some key factors in creating and sustaining school-based teacher professional learning communities (PLCs) through a case study of a South Korean public high school. To achieve this, the study identified some essential infrastructure, preparation, and necessary social organization for creating PLCs. The ideal unit and the encouraging/discouraging factors in the implementation process were also investigated. Data were gathered via classroom observations and by analysis of interview transcripts, questionnaire responses, and minutes from PLC meetings. Nineteen participants, including 16 teachers, a principal, an assistant principal, and a facilitator from a city department of education, who assisted the school reform process, completed the questionnaires. Three of the teachers who took the reform initiative participated in the in-depth interview. The study provides a detailed description of the school context before the PLC implementation, challenges that faced the teachers, and two main characteristics of their PLC initiative. The study indicates that participants perceived prepared teacher leaders, building trust and respect among faculty, and securing time for classroom observation and PLC meetings as the most necessary preparation in creating and implementing their PLC. Empowering grade level chairs, increasing teacher proximity, and employing additional administrative assistants were identified as effective administrative support. Participants recognized that each grade level had more advantage in implementing PLCs and thought positive changes of disruptive students and their own instructional practices were the most encouraging factors in overcoming implementation problems. Authoritative leadership of school administration and a city DOE that forcefully mandates PLCs were perceived as discouraging factors in PLC implementation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-160
Author(s):  
Tony Loughland ◽  
Hoa TM Nguyen

There has been an evolution in the teacher professional learning literature on what constitutes effective process. This evolution has seen a shift from a focus on the design elements to the theory of action that integrates and drives these disparate elements to create effective professional learning. This study argues that a focus on a theory of action can be enhanced when the construct of teacher collective efficacy is considered in relation to teacher professional learning. This study examined how participation in a collaborative professional learning model for primary science impacted on the teachers’ sense of their collective efficacy in a specific context in Australia. Data from interviews, professional learning sessions, written reflections and classroom observations of a group of 12 primary teachers were analysed using the construct of teacher collective efficacy. The evidence from this case study suggests that teacher collective efficacy employed as a conceptual framework may be a useful design heuristic that might enhance the quality of a teacher’s professional learning experience.


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