Abstract
This study examines the role of transformational and instructional school leadership in facilitating interpersonal professional learning community (PLC) characteristics (collective responsibility, deprivatized practice, and reflective dialogue). Survey data were collected in 48 Flemish (Belgian) primary schools from 495 experienced teachers. Multilevel analyses, when controlling for school characteristics, demonstrated that instructional leadership is related to perceived participation in deprivatized practice and participation in reflective dialogue. Transformational leadership matters for perceived participation in reflective dialogue but also for the presence of collective responsibility. These findings result in practical implications, based on the distinct merits of both leadership styles for interpersonal PLC characteristics.
Highlights
There is an unprecedented international call for schools to be professional learning communities (PLCs) where teachers take responsibility for achieving high quality student learning and where teachers are willing to learn from other colleagues through systematic collaboration in order to achieve this goal (DuFour, 2004; McLaughlin & Talbert, 2007; Stoll, Bolam, McMahon, Wallace, & Thomas, 2006)
While controlling for several structural school characteristics, we found differential relationships for instructional and transformational leadership, signifying that they both have a role to play and are complementary approaches for achieving high interpersonal PLC characteristics
We found that how teachers perceived the instructional leadership in their school was related to their participation in deprivatized practice and participation in reflective dialogue and that teachers’ perceptions of transformational leadership was associated with participation in reflective dialogue and the presence of Leadership and interpersonal PLC characteristics collective responsibility
Summary
There is an unprecedented international call for schools to be professional learning communities (PLCs) where teachers take responsibility for achieving high quality student learning and where teachers are willing to learn from other colleagues through systematic collaboration in order to achieve this goal (DuFour, 2004; McLaughlin & Talbert, 2007; Stoll, Bolam, McMahon, Wallace, & Thomas, 2006). Studies have shown that wide variation exists between schools regarding PLCs (Louis, Marks, & Kruse, 1996) and that it is not self-evident for teachers to work collaboratively in their school and break through the reigning idea of teachers as strictly autonomous professionals within their classrooms (Day & Sachs, 2004; Donaldson et al, 2008; OECD, 2014). Given the potential of PLCs, one must ask, how can teachers be stimulated to break through these barriers in order for schools to become strong PLCs?
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