Towards a comprehensive and dynamic conceptual framework to research and enact professional learning communities in the context of secondary education

Pierre Van Meeuwen*, Fred Huijboom, Ellen Rusman, Marjan Vermeulen, Jeroen Imants

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

7 Citations (Web of Science)

Abstract

The past two decades research on teachers’ professional development focusses increasingly on professional learning communities (PLCs). Based on a literature search a conceptual framework was developed including a comprehensive PLC-concept. Comprehensive because it takes into account the complexity of the educational context. The PLC-concept outlining 11 characteristics, is embedded in a framework, containing five external factors that influence. The framework was evaluated by interviewing educational experts. The literature search and the interviews showed a great diversity of distinct PLC characteristics and a wide range of external influencing factors. Based on expert interviews, no essential elements appeared to be lacking in the framework, moreover no other perspectives on the framework were mentioned. An additional search on recent literature confirmed the constructed framework. As yet we concluded that the developed concept is sufficiently comprehensive and feasible for conducting research on PLCs.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)405-427
Number of pages23
JournalEuropean Journal of Teacher Education
Volume43
Issue number3
Early online date2 Dec 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 May 2020

Keywords

  • COLLABORATION
  • Community of Practice
  • EFFICACY
  • IMPACT
  • PLC characteristics
  • Professional learning community
  • Professional learning community,
  • ROLES
  • SCHOOL LEADERSHIP
  • WORK
  • community of practice and PLC characteristics

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