Identifying the dimensions and components of the professional learning community of school principals: a systematic review

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD student in Educational Management, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Management and Human Resource Development, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

3 Associate Professor, Department of Educational Management and Human Resource Development, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

10.22098/ael.2024.15543.1458

Abstract

Background and Objective: Today, the most promising strategy for sustainable and fundamental school improvement is to develop the ability of school members to function as a professional learning community. Professional learning communities can be understood from their label as a community of professionals who are busy learning. therefore, the aim of the current research is to identify the dimensions and components of the professional learning community of school administrators.
Research Methodology: In order to achieve this goal, a systematic review-type documentary research method was used. Based on this, the articles published in the professional learning community of school principals in the years 2016-2024 from the external databases of Springer, Sage, Science Direct, Eric, Scopus, Emerald, as well as the internal databases of Mag-Iran, SID and Normagz, comprehensive humanities portal, Civilica, Iran Science and Information Technology Research Institute (Irandac) and Persian search engine Alam-Net were investigated. After searching, screening based on the subject area and then evaluating the studies, 86 studies were selected as the research sample.
Findings: Based on the obtained results, the components of the professional learning community of school administrators in four core components of the personality dimension (including individual components, perceptual components, interaction and collective communication); Professional dimension (including professional commitment and professional learning), organizational dimension (including support and support, collaborative culture, drawing a vision, transformationalism in leadership), approach dimension (including peer coaching and mentoring, informal learning, research-oriented) were identified.
Conclusion: The review of external research conducted in the field of professional learning communities for school principals reminds us this important point  that in order to free principals from the limitations of traditional professional development, attention should be paid to new empowerment approaches such as networking and The formation of professional learning communities is very necessary. However, the study of these researchs shows that there is a tangible theoretical and practical gap in this field. Therefore, recognizing and strengthening the Dimensions and components that affect the participation and cooperation of principals in the field of professional learning activities is a useful step in the direction of empowering principals, improving the teaching activity of teachers, academic progress of students, and subsequently the quality of educational systems will be improved.

Keywords

Main Subjects

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Applied Educational Leadership
Volume 5, Issue 3
October 2024
Pages 163-187

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  • Receive Date: 31 July 2024
  • Revise Date: 23 August 2024
  • Accept Date: 09 September 2024

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