Professional Learning Communities(PLCs)of Chemistry Teachers

The models of Professional Learning Communities(PLCs)are based on principles of learning that emphasize the co-construction of knowledge by learners,who in this case are the teachers themselves.Teachers in a PLC meet regularly to explore their practices and the learning outcomes of their students,analyze their teaching and their students’learning processes,draw conclusions,and make changes in order to improve their teaching and the learning of their students.It was found that participation in a PLC influences teaching practice,so teachers become more student-centered.Moreover,the teaching culture improves as the community increases the degree of cooperation among teachers,and focuses on the processes of learning rather than the accumulation of knowledge.This enables students to be innovative,creative,and critical.In addition,trust is developed among the participants,which enables them to discuss and analyze their students’cognitive and affective problems,misconceptions,and learning outcomes.

Developments of Professional Learning Communities and Challenges for Principals in Chinese Urban Middle Schools

Professional learning communities(PLCs)have seen a rapid spread all around the world over the past 30 years.Since then it has been proved that they can improve teaching quality and thereby the achievement of students,and so PLCs have attracted increasing attention especially from education systems.In China,PLCs have been developed vigorously within schools since the implementation of the‘New Curriculum Reform’in 2000.However,the west has paid scant attention to and were not familiar with them since most research in this field in China was published in Chinese.Furthermore,PLCs are influenced by contextual and cultural factors,and therefore PLCs in Chinese education systems are different from those in Anglo-American settings due to long-standing cultural differences,which require consideration.Therefore,this research will investigate the PLCs in China that may be of interest.Many recent studies have shown that,although PLCs have made significant progress in Chinese urban middle schools through the enthusiastic efforts of educators and scholars,there are still several barriers.The primary purpose of this research is to review the development of PLCs and additionally to analyse the challenges faced by the principals.

Professional Learning Communities in Private Schools in Bahrain and Oman:Reflection on Two Cases

Highlights•This study explores features of professional learning community(PLC)models in the educational contexts in Bahrain and Oman.•Findings based on the case studies of PLCs in two private schools in Bahrain and Oman,and theoretical input from international PLC literature has implications for policy and practice.•Study recommends promoting PLC approaches in the Bahraini and Omani educational systems in pre-and in-service teacher training programs,adapting best international PLC practices to the specific educational contexts of Bahrain and Oman,preparing school principals to lead PLC in their schools,providing human and financial support to these communities,and making school cultures more collaborative.•This study highlights the importance of the PLC approach,expands the existing conceptual/analytical framework,demonstrates how this approach is being used in two schools,and encourages other practitioners and researchers to embrace PLC.

Educational Improvement Science:The Art of the Improving Organization

Purpose:To advocate educational improvement science(EIS)as an emerging transdisciplinary field,I reflect on the three major pathways of educational advancement in human history,discern the misuses and pitfalls of reform,and theorize how education can be improved to better serve its mission.Design/Approach/Methods:Employing a multiperspectival approach,I critically re-examine educational reforms and improvements worldwide and conceptualize the emerging transdisciplinary field through an extensive literature review,etymological analysis,international comparisons,and socio-historical,-cultural and-philosophical reflections.Findings:In this paper,I advance the concept of neo-improvementalism for EIS by elucidating its philosophical assumptions,disciplinary fundamentals,and theoretical frameworks through historical and comparative lenses.I identify and construct disciplinary knowledge of EIS comprising two categories,namely,subject matter knowledge and profound knowledge,adopted from improvement science.I then highlight three methodological approaches of EIS and the building of professional improvement communities empowering individual and institutional improvement capabilities.I propose that EIS is the art of the improving organization for classes,schools,and/or more broadly defined educational agencies.Originality/Value:This study recognizes the significance of EIS and research thereon,especially discipline-building and exploration based on local characteristics in a global vision,and the cultivation of new frontiers of educational research and practices.

Unpacking the Relationship Between Teachers’Perceptions of Professional Learning Communities and Differentiated Instruction Practice

Purpose:This exploratory study investigates the relationship between teachers’perceptions of professional learning communities(PLCs)and their differentiated instruction(DI)practice in a Hong Kong primary education context.Design/Approach/Methods:Three subsidized primary schools participated in the study.A total of 121 teachers completed surveys regarding their perceptions of PLC engagement and DI practice.Findings:Using principal component analysis,three dimensions of PLC engagement were identified:student learning,reflective dialogue,and shared and supportive leadership.Two distinctive PLC engagement profiles were generated based on cluster analysis:high PLC engagement and low PLC engagement.Teachers’PLC engagement profiles were correlated with their DI practices.Originality/Value:The findings have implications for fostering teacher engagement in PLCs.Increased teacher participation in PLCs has great potential for promoting the use of DI.

How Teachers Learn and Change in Reciprocal Learning Space

This paper reports the impact of a new Canada and China school network on its participating teachers in the context of the Canada−China Partnership Grant Project.Eight schools formed four pairs of sister schools,and teachers in these schools created collaborations embedded in their practices.The data include interviews of teachers and principals in both countries and records of teachers’cross-cultural collaborations.Informed by the literature on teacher learning and professional learning communities,this paper shows benefits of international teacher communities.Also,it explores a new approach to research that features spatiality considerations reflecting a new trend in the comparative education literature.Focusing on teacher knowledge and practice,it shows reciprocal effects of collaboration in the international school network.Finally,this paper links the research results to the literature in a way that highlights the potential of international teacher professional learning communities and contributions of this kind of practice and research.