collaborative professional learning

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are an essential mechanism for collaborative professional learning of teachers. However, evidence remains limited on the specific activities secondary school Biology teachers engage in within PLCs and their perceived contribution to competence-based teaching in Tanzania. This study investigated the PLC activities conducted by secondary school Biology teachers in Dodoma City and their perceived contribution to competence-based teaching practices. Social Constructivist Theory guided the study. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted, and data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 103 Biology teachers in 60 randomly selected public and private secondary schools and analysed using descriptive statistics. The key findings show that teachers engaged mainly in practice-oriented activities: collaborative lesson planning (83.5% of respondents) and peer observation (52.4%) were the only activities reported by more than half of the teachers, whereas setting and reviewing goals (21.4%) and action research and inquiry-based learning (16.5%) were the least practised. Teachers rated the contribution of PLC activities to competence-based teaching as great on all six indicators (M = 3.99–4.18). The strongest contributions were in preparing competence-based lesson plans integrating lessons into real-life situations and involving students in classroom activities, while formative assessment received the lowest, though still high, rating. These findings imply that PLCs benefit learners by helping teachers deliver more learner-centred, contextualised, and participatory lessons, which are the classroom conditions through which competence-based learning and academic performance are improved. The study recommends strengthening inquiry-oriented PLC activities, particularly action research and the collaborative analysis of assessment evidence, so that PLCs can more fully support learners’ achievement.

This study investigates principal leadership strategies in developing Professional Learning Community (PLC) culture in public elementary schools in Banten Province, Indonesia. The research addresses the increasing demand for collaborative professional learning in schools while many public elementary schools have not yet successfully implemented PLC practices. The study aims to analyze leadership strategies, supporting and inhibiting factors, teacher responses, the impact of PLC implementation, and the causes of unsuccessful PLC adoption in several schools. This research employed a qualitative approach with a multiple case study design involving ten public elementary schools across regencies and municipalities in Banten Province. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, participatory observations, and document analysis involving principals and teachers as key participants. Data were analyzed using interactive qualitative analysis, thematic analysis, and NVivo 14 to strengthen coding, categorization, and cross-case interpretation. Trustworthiness was ensured through triangulation, member checking, peer debriefing, and audit trail procedures. The findings reveal that principal leadership plays a central role in shaping sustainable PLC culture through transformational and collaborative leadership practices. Successful schools demonstrated strong vision alignment, collective professional learning, reflective dialogue, and reduced teacher isolation. PLC implementation strengthened teacher professionalism, collective efficacy, and instructional quality. However, administrative burdens, limited time, teacher resistance, and inadequate conceptual understanding of PLC among some principals became major barriers to implementation. Technology functioned as a supporting tool but could not substitute relational trust and collaborative culture. The study concludes that sustainable PLC development requires instructional leadership, organizational trust, structural policy support, and systematic principal professional development to strengthen collaborative learning culture in Indonesian public elementary schools.

این پژوهش به بررسی راهبردهای رهبری مدیران در توسعه فرهنگ جامعه یادگیری حرفه‌ای (PLC) در مدارس ابتدایی دولتی استان بانتن اندونزی می‌پردازد. این تحقیق به نیاز فزاینده برای یادگیری حرفه‌ای مشارکتی در مدارس می‌پردازد، در حالی که بسیاری از مدارس ابتدایی دولتی هنوز موفق به اجرای مؤثر رویه‌های PLC نشده‌اند. هدف پژوهش، تحلیل راهبردهای رهبری، عوامل تسهیل‌کننده و بازدارنده، واکنش معلمان، تأثیر اجرای PLC و علل عدم موفقیت در پذیرش PLC در برخی مدارس است. این پژوهش با رویکرد کیفی و با طرح مطالعه موردی چندگانه در ده مدرسه ابتدایی دولتی در شهرستان‌ها و شهرهای استان بانتن انجام شده است. داده‌ها از طریق مصاحبه‌های عمیق، مشاهده مشارکتی و تحلیل اسناد با مشارکت مدیران و معلمان به عنوان مشارکت‌کنندگان کلیدی گردآوری شد. تحلیل داده‌ها با استفاده از تحلیل تعاملی کیفی، تحلیل تماتیک و نرم‌افزار NVivo 14 به منظور تقویت کدگذاری، دسته‌بندی و تفسیر بین‌موردی صورت گرفت. اعتبار یافته‌ها از طریق مثلث‌سازی، بازبینی اعضا، بحث با همتایان و پیگیری حسابرسی تضمین شد. یافته‌ها نشان می‌دهد که رهبری مدیران نقش محوری در شکل‌دهی فرهنگ پایدار PLC از طریق شیوه‌های رهبری تحول‌آفرین و مشارکتی ایفا می‌کند. مدارس موفق دارای همسویی قوی چشم‌انداز، یادگیری حرفه‌ای جمعی، گفت‌وگوی تأملی و کاهش انزوای معلمان بودند. اجرای PLC موجب تقویت حرفه‌ای‌گری معلمان، اثربخشی جمعی و کیفیت تدریس شد. با این حال، بار اداری، محدودیت زمانی، مقاومت معلمان و درک مفهومی ناکافی برخی مدیران از PLC به عنوان موانع اصلی اجرای آن شناسایی شد. فناوری به عنوان ابزار حمایتی عمل کرد اما نتوانست جایگزین اعتماد رابطه‌ای و فرهنگ مشارکتی شود. نتیجه‌گیری پژوهش آن است که توسعه پایدار PLC مستلزم رهبری آموزشی، اعتماد سازمانی، حمایت ساختاری سیاستی و توسعه حرفه‌ای نظام‌مند مدیران برای تقویت فرهنگ یادگیری مشارکتی در مدارس ابتدایی دولتی اندونزی است.