A Typology of Professional Learning Communities (PLC) for Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case study of Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, and Nigeria

Abstract

In the bid to improve teaching quality and promote an approach to teacher development that is grounded in the context in which teachers are inserted, Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) have become a popular alternative model of teacher professional development in many countries. PLCs, however, have been more widely studied in high-resource contexts. In a recognition that existing conceptualizations from the Western literature may not reflect how PLCs are functioning in developing countries, this research aims to inductively create a typology of PLCs that incorporates elements that might be specific to these countries, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa in general and based on the cases of Equatorial Guinea, Ghana and Nigeria in particular. This study employs a multimethod approach, encompassing document analysis, semi-structured interviews with PLC experts and expert validation. The resulting typology categorizes PLCs into three models - autonomous, structured and scripted. This typology of PLCs is further integrated with dimensions previously proposed by the Western literature to form one cohesive conceptual framework. By acknowledging PLC variability, we are able to incorporate into a framework modes of PLC operation that are specific to our case countries, and possibly to Sub-Saharan African and low- and middle-income countries more generally.

Redes de aprendizaje profesional docente en contextos escolares chilenos

“…Las comunidades de aprendizaje profesional (CAP) son un tipo especial de comunidades de práctica cuyo propósito es la mejora de los procesos de aula mediante la reflexión crítica y la colaboración entre docentes (Soares & Galisson, 2020).…”

“…Como advierten Soares & Galisson (2020), la mayoría de las experiencias que la literatura recoge corresponden a países desarrollados, donde las CAP ponen acento en la autonomía de su agenda, así como en la autoridad y el empoderamiento docente sobre sus decisiones y consecuencias.…”

“…La colaboración y reflexión conjunta, por tanto, es promovida por las autoridades y no emerge naturalmente. Otras características nucleares de las comunidades de aprendizaje son: a) un set de valores y normas; b) el foco en los estudiantes; c) la desprivatización de las prácticas; d) el diálogo reflexivo; y e) la colaboración (Ishak et al, 2020;Soares et al, 2020). Hay autores que incluyen además una visión, metas y cultura compartidas (Cabezas et al, 2021).…”

“…Hay autores que incluyen además una visión, metas y cultura compartidas (Cabezas et al, 2021). Soares et al (2020) advierten, sin embargo, que estos factores se traslapan y tienen interdependencia, una característica que precisa ser mejor comprendida.…”

Validating Professional Learning Communities Practice Model in a Malaysian Context

“…Based on PLCs literature, the PLCs concept is still in the early stages of theory development (Soares et al, 2020). There is still no agreement on the true definition of PLCs (Tahir & Musah, 2020).…”