A typology and framework for professional learning communities (PLCs) in LMICs

Professional learning communities (PLCs) are an alternative approach to teacher professional development, especially in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). Existing conceptualizations of PLCs in Western literature, however, don’t recognize that PLCs in LMICs may operate differently to reflect local contexts. In fact, much of the literature considers PLCs only school-based, organic initiatives and doesn’t acknowledge that PLCs in LMICs are often purposeful and part of broad educational reforms. A previous post describes this lack of evidence. In order to address this lack of evidence, we realized we first needed a conceptual understanding of PLCs, grounded in the realities of LMICs. So we conducted a study in Equatorial Guinea, Ghana and Nigeria to create a typology of PLCs in sub-Saharan Africa. We then combined our typology with existing conceptualizations to inform the design of a PLC framework. Our framework establishes conceptual foundations for future research and equips practitioners with guidance for designing and promoting PLCs. We describe our findings and the integrated conceptual framework we created in this post.

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