Understanding teacher professional learning communities in China : a case study of teaching research groups in Shanghai

Abstract

Drawing on emerging evidence of the significance of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) on teacher continuous learning, educational researchers and practitioners in the English-speaking world have increasingly invested their efforts in creating PLCs to develop teachers in schools. In China, such communities have been established as a formal structure for teacher professional learning—Teaching Research Groups (TRGs)—for more than sixty years. However, “why” and “how” TRGs achieve their effects, as well as the challenges and barriers they are facing, need more empirical research. This qualitative case study investigates the implementation of TRG practices and explores some of the key elements that may underpin their significance in facilitating teacher professional learning in a junior secondary school in Shanghai. Data were collected from relevant documents; interviews with teachers, TRG leaders, school leaders and district teaching researchers; and observations of teaching research activities, meetings, and school activities. The findings are categorized into four key elements—organizational arrangements, leadership roles, collegial relationships, and cultural values—that inform the effectiveness of TRG practices. Findings reveal that, firstly, teacher professional learning in the studied TRGs was designed and institutionalized as an integral part of teachers’ work duty. Secondly, leadership configurations at the district, school, and group levels demonstrated that professional and administrative authority were combined to contribute to teacher professional learning process. Thirdly, this study also found that the coexistence of contrived collegiality and genuine collegiality influenced teacher professional learning in the three TRGs. Finally, the functioning of TRGs was found to be deeply rooted in the interplay between school organizational and Chinese societal cultures, including a strong emphasis on teacher professional learning, close ties between personal and professional relationships, the culture of collectivism, and deference to power. This study further suggests that these general four elements are not separate but interrelated, and explain the mechanisms through which TRGs, as well-articulated PLCs, affect teacher professional learning. The effectiveness of TRGs reflects the Chinese approach of balancing complex dualities in educational practices. The study demonstrates that TRGs have facilitated teacher professional learning to some extent, but also suggests TRGs are facing certain challenges, such as excessively strong subject and group boundaries, an overemphasis on uniformity, restricted collective and individual autonomy, and vulnerable collegiality and collaboration. This study provides empirical data that supplements the present knowledge base on PLCs in the context of China and offers insights into how to structure PLCs to maximize teacher professional learning.