Assessment of Professional Learning Community in Private Schools of Lahore
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to investigate existence of professional learning community (PLC) in five private schools of Lahore. The researcher used an instrument Professional Learning Community Assessment Revised developed and revised by Olivier, Hipp, and Huffman (2010) to collect data from 800 teachers from five private reputed schools of the Lahore. The sample was selected conveniently because of very limited to no access to certain schools. With response rate of 80% and reliability of .951 in local context the data were analyzed. The analysis revealed existence of all dimensions of PLC in all five schools of the Lahore. Supportive condition (structure) was perceived as dominant dimension of the PLC. Insignificant difference was identified between perceptions of male and female teachers. Moreover ANOVA revealed that in Heaven school and Custodian school two dimensions of the PLC, shared and supportive leadership and shared values and vision are practiced better than other three schools: Shining star, Grammar, and Hospitality. This research has identified existence of PLC in private schools of the Lahore and invites researchers to explore the same in public schools and further investigate relationship of PLC with school effectiveness, students’ achievement, teachers’’ professional development and other variables.
Downloads
Article Analytics Summary
References
Tam, A. C. F. (2015). Exploring teachers’ beliefs about teacher learning in professional learning communities and their influence on collegial activities in two departments. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 45(3), 422-444. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2013.872025
Blankstien (2010). Failure is not an option. California: Corwin Press.
Boyer, E. (1995) The basic School: A Community for Learning. Princeton, NJ: The Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Brodie, K. (2013). The power of professional learning communities. Education as change, 17(1), 5-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/16823206.2013.773929
Boyd, V. (1992). School context. Bridge or barrier to change? Austin, Texas: Southwest
Educational Development Laboratory.
Dana, N.F. and Yendol-Hoppey, D. (2008). The reflective educator’s guide to professional development: coaching inquiry-oriented learning communities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Darling-Hammond, L. (1996). The quiet revolution: Rethinking teacher development. Educational Leadership, 53(6),4-10.
DuFour, R., & Eaker, R. (1998). Professional learning communities at work: Best practices for enhancing student achievement. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.
DuFour, R. (2007). Professional learning communities: A bandwagon, an idea worth considering, or our best hope for high levels of learning?.Middle School Journal, 39(1), 4-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00940771.2007.11461607
DuFour, R.,(2004). What is PLC? Educational leadership, 61(8), 6- 11.
DuFour, R. B., DuFour, R., & Eaker, R. E. (2006).Professional learning communities at work: Plan book. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.
Fullan. M, Hill P., & Crevola, C. (2006). Break through. Thousand Oaks. CA: Corwin.
Fullan, M. (1997) Broadening the concept of teacher leadership. In S. Caldwell(ed.), Professional Development in Learning- centered schools(Oxford, OH: National Staff Development Council),pp.34-48.
Fullan, M. and Stieglebauer, S. (1991) The New Meaning of Educational Change,, 2nd Edn
(New York: Teachers College Press).
Doolittle, D., Sudeck, M., & Rattigan, P. (2008) Creating Professional Learning Communities: The Work of Professional Development Schools, Theory Into Practice, 47:4, 303-310, DOI: 10.1080/00405840802329276 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00405840802329276
Grossman, P., S. Wineburg, and S. Woolworth. (2001). Toward a theory of teacher community. Teachers College Record 103 (6): 942–1012. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/016146810110300603
Hallinger, P., & Heck, R. H. (1996). Reassessing the principal's role in school effectiveness: A review of empirical research, 1980-1995. Educational administration quarterly, 32(1), 5- 44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X96032001002
Hipp, K. K., Huffman, J. B., Pankake, A. M., & Olivier, D. F. (2008). Sustaining professional
learning communities: Case studies. Journal of Educational Change, 9, 173-195.
Hilliard, A.T. (2012). Practices and value of a PLC in higher education. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 5(2), 71-74. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19030/cier.v5i2.6922
Hord, S.M. (1997). Professional learning communities: Communities of continuous inquiry and improvement. Austin: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.
Hord, S. M. and Sommers, W.A. (2008). Leading professional learning communities: voices from research and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Hord, S. M., Abrego, J., Moller, G., Olivier, D. F., Pankake, A. M., & Roundtree, L. (2010). Demystifying professional learning communities: School leadership at its best. R&L Education.
Leithwood, K. (1994). Leadership for school restructuring. Educational administration quarterly, 30(4), 498-518. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X94030004006
Leithwood, K., & Duke, D. L. (1998). Mapping the conceptual terrain of leadership: A critical point of departure for cross-cultural studies. Peabody Journal of Education, 73(2), 31-50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327930pje7302_2
Leithwood, K. A., & Riehl, C. (2003). What we know about successful school leadership. Nottingham: National College for School Leadership.
Lieberman, A.,& Miller, L.(2011). Learning communities: The starting point for professional learning is in schools and classrooms. Journal of Staff Development, 32(4), 16-20.
Little, J. W. (1990). The persistence of privacy: Autonomy and initiative in teachers’ professional relations. Teachers College Record 91 (4): 509–536. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/016146819009100403
Louis, KS. & Kruse, S.D. (1995).Professionalism and community: Perspectives on reforming urban schools .Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.
Maloney, C.,& Konza, D.(2011).A case study of teachers’ professional learning: Becoming a community of professional learning or not?. Issues in Educational Research, 21(1), 75- 87.
McLaughlin, M.W. & Talbert, J.E. (1993). Contexts that matter for teaching and learning. Stanford, California: Center for Research on the Context of Secondary School Teaching, Stanford University.
Midgley, C. & Wood, S. (1993) Beyond site-management: Empowering teacher to reform schools. Phi Kappan, 75(3),245-252.
Meirink, J. A., Meijer, P. C., Verloop, N., & Bergen, T. C. (2009). Understanding teacher learning in secondary education: The relations of teacher activities to changed beliefs about teaching and learning. Teaching and teacher education, 25(1), 89-100. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2008.07.003
Napier.R.& Gershenfeld,M. (2001).Theory and experience. Boston:Houghton Mifflin.
Nelson, T. H. (2009). Teachers’ collaborative inquiry and professional growth: Should we be optimistic? Science Education,93(3),548-580. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.20302
Olivier, D. F., Hipp, K. K., & Huffman, J. B. (2010). Assessing and analyzing schools. In K. K. Hipp & J. B. Huffman (Eds.). Demystifying professional learning communities: School leadership at its Best. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Sun-Keung Pang, N., Wang, T., & Lai-Mei Leung, Z. (2016). Educational reforms and the practices of PLC in Hong Kong primary schools. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 36(2), 231-247. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2016.1148852
Pella, S. (2011). A situative perspective on developing writing pedagogy in a teacher PLC. Teacher Education Quarterly, 38(1), 107-125.
Prestine, N.A. (1993). Extending the essential schools metaphor: Principal as enabler. Journal of School Leadership, 3(4), 356-379. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/105268469300300402
Rosenholtz, S. (1989). Teacher's workplace: The social organization of schools. NewYork: Longman.
Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organizations. New York: Currency Doubleday.
Sergiovanni T. J.(1994) Building community in schools. San Francisco: Jossy Bass.
Smith, W. F., & Andrews, R. L. (1989). Instructional leadership: How principals makes a difference. Alexandra, VA: Association for Su- pervision and Curriculum Development.
Snyder, K. J. (1996). Principals Speak Out on Changing School Work Cultures. Journal of Staff Development, 17(1), 14-19.
Tan, Y. S. M., & Caleon, I. S. (2016). Problem finding in Professional Learning Communities: A learning study approach. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 60(2), 127-146. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2014.996596
Wignall, R. (1992, June). Building a collaborative school culture: A case study of one woman in
the principalship. Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research, Enschede, The Netherlands.
Wong, J. L. N. 2010. Searching for Good Practice in Teaching: A Comparison of Two Subject- Based Professional Learning Communities in a Secondary School in Shanghai. Compare 40 (5): 623–639 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03057920903553308
Copyright (c) 2020 Sajid Masood, Ghazal Khalid Siddiqui, Huma Lodhi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
CSRC Publishing and JBSEE adhere to Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License. The authors submitting and publishing in JBSEE agree to the copyright policy under creative common license 4.0 (Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International). Under this license, the authors published in JBSEE retain the copyright including publishing rights of their scholarly work and agree to let others remix, tweak, and build upon their work non-commercially. All other authors using the content of SBSEE are required to cite author(s) and publisher in their work. CSRC Publishing and JBSEE follow an Open Access Policy for copyright and licensing.