Abstract
Despite the growing literature underlying the working processes of professional learning communities (PLCs) across multiple educational settings, empirical studies exploring how PLCs are structured among Malaysian teachers remains largely scarce. Drawing on the lens of Cultural-historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as analytical framework (Engeström, 1987; Harvey & Teledahl, 2021), the study provides a scoping overview of PLC research in Malaysia from January 2017 to June 2022. The result reveals that out of 21 studies examined, three significant themes of activity systems were identified: developing supportive collegial collaboration, improved instructional skills and teaching repertoire and improving students’ achievement. Following this, the study closely reviewed the dynamics of mediating artifacts and the norms that regulate the activity system, and revealed that participants and labour division features of PLCs are similar across contexts. Given that PLCs are seen as a policy measure in Malaysia to sustain and scale up school improvement locally, the review provides a deeper understanding of what and how policy makers, school leaders and practitioners can develop and organise effective PLC programmes to impact sustainable teacher professional development.
Presenters
Nako AbdullahPhD, Doctoral researcher, School of Education, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2022 Special Focus—At the Crossroads of Paradigms: Considering Heterodoxy in the Social Sciences
KEYWORDS
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES, TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, TEACHER EDUCATION, SCOPING REVIEW
