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The professional development (PD) of teaching staffs is a notion that encompasses all the activities that allow teachers to acquire and implement knowledge, understanding, and skills to fulfill personal and organizational goals. In other words, PD is aimed at advancing teaching and learning (Owe, 2014). Education experts agree that a teachers' PD is important in itself, as it promotes the ongoing expansion of knowledge and the refinement of professional skills – over the course of a teacher's career (lifelong learning) – that are required in the twenty-first century (Levy-Feldman, 2018). The literature reflects agreement that well-planned and professionally implemented teachers' PD can bring about desired change in teaching practices and student achievement (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017). Despite the difficulty of demonstrating a clear connection between teachers' PD and students’ achievement (e.g., Easton, 2008; Sperling, 2018; Vescio, et al., 2008), teachers' PD provides basic criteria for conceptualizing effective teaching (Desimone, 2009).
PD for teachers takes place in and out of schools. The goal of the current study was to examine teachers' and principals' views on varied 'tailor-made' teachers' PD models, conducted in different schools’ PLC, in order to identify conditions that promote their success. The uniqueness of the present study lies in the fact that it is based on a meta-evaluation of several PLC in which different 'tailor-made' models operated, and therefore, indicates a broad point of view beyond a specific PD model or a specific school-based PLC. The findings offer board empirical indications, from the viewpoint of teachers and principals from the same schools, indicate knowledge regarding the success of teachers' PD in school-based PLC, which is beyond a specific school setting and a specific PD model. In addition, most researchers argue that PLC are influenced by the organizational culture and are located in organizations with a more open, permissive culture. We want to add that this is bi-directional, in that teachers’ PLC are not only influenced by the organization’s culture, but also create an organizational culture. In other words, we offer another point of view that does not point to a cause and effect, but rather to a relationship that is derived from teachers and principals’ perceptions in several schools and different PD models.
The Development of Teachers Through Professional Learning Communities
PLC encompass groups of education professionals who possess a shared vision and common beliefs, values, and are devoted to the personal and professional growth of their members and the quality of teaching and learning. Underlying the establishment of teachers' PLC is the conviction that teachers are intellectual professionals who continue to learn and develop over the course of their personal and professional lives, and that teachers can learn from one another. These communities provide teachers with an environment for individual and collective shared learning, conducted out of a sense of conviction, mutual respect, partnership, and group identity. Learning in such communities is pursued through investigation and reflective dialogue relating to members’ professional role and performance, the implementation of new ideas, and the creation of personal and shared knowledge while linking it to their field (e.g.,; Birenbaum et al., 2011; Blanga et al., 2011; Damjanovic & Blank, 2021; Mclaughlin & Talbert, 2006; Sjoer & Meirink, 2016).
Different distinctions between teachers' PLC have been proposed. Blanga et al. (2011) describe four models of teachers' PLC. The first is the school community, which meets on a regular basis for ongoing sessions based on research that is consistently incorporated into local work (Bogler & Somech, 2004); the second is the content-focused community, which involves teachers of a common discipline from one or more schools. A third model of PLC is the online community, which is run by an expert but may be established at the initiative of different stakeholders. The fourth is the ad-hoc community, the members of which meet periodically for a defined period of time in order to discuss an issue of common interest (McGregor et al., 2010).