Toward a Deeper Understanding: Testing a Multidimensional Framework of Professional Learning Communities in Sub-Saharan African Schools

Resource type
Journal Article
Authors/contributors
Title
Toward a Deeper Understanding: Testing a Multidimensional Framework of Professional Learning Communities in Sub-Saharan African Schools
Abstract
Professional learning communities (PLCs) are becoming increasingly popular, in a recognition that teachers’ knowledge is situated in teachers’ daily experiences and best acquired through ongoing practice and reflection. This study examines the relationship between participation in PLCs and teaching practices and tests specific aspects of a PLC framework for sub-Saharan Africa, which has not been studied before. Data originate from a teacher survey implemented with over 2,300 preschool and primary education teachers in Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, and Nigeria. Our results show a positive significant relationship between higher levels of participation in PLC and constructivist student-centered practices for two out of the three countries under study. Findings also indicate that PLCs’ four core characteristics conceptualized by the literature from high-income countries are associated with higher constructivist student-centered practice across all three countries.
Publication
Comparative Education Review
Volume
65
Issue
1
Pages
76-103
Date
February 1, 2021
ISSN
0010-4086
Short Title
Toward a Deeper Understanding
Accessed
25/06/2021, 16:02
Library Catalogue
Extra
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Citation
Soares, F., & Galisson, K. (2021). Toward a Deeper Understanding: Testing a Multidimensional Framework of Professional Learning Communities in Sub-Saharan African Schools. Comparative Education Review, 65(1), 76–103. https://doi.org/10.1086/712179