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How do departmental professional learning communities and teacher leadership matter for teacher self-efficacy? A multi-level analysis

Xin Zheng (Faculty of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, China)
Ying Luo (Faculty of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing, China)

Journal of Professional Capital and Community

ISSN: 2056-9548

Article publication date: 13 December 2023

Issue publication date: 2 January 2024

251

Abstract

Purpose

Whilst professional learning communities (PLCs) have been widely explored at the school level, they have received less attention at the departmental level. The study takes the variance between departments and the role of departmental teacher leaders into consideration, and the relationships amongst departmental-level PLC dimensions, two types of teacher leadership (TL) and individual teacher self-efficacy are investigated.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample consisted of 907 teachers from 81 departments in Chinese schools. The associations between the studied variables were explored through a multi-level analysis approach.

Findings

The results show that two specific characteristics of departmental PLCs, namely reflective dialogue (RD) and collective responsibility (CR), exhibit a positive correlation with individual teacher self-efficacy. Additionally, the findings indicate that teacher transformational leadership significantly predicts teacher self-efficacy, whereas teacher instructional leadership (IL) does not emerge as a significant predictor. These findings may be attributed to the contextual factors of Chinese teachers' collective work and the practice of teacher leaders.

Originality/value

This research contributes to the existing literature by addressing the variance between departments and uncovering the impacts of departmental PLC dimensions on individual teachers. Furthermore, two TL styles at the departmental level are differentiated, and their distinct influences on teacher self-efficacy are further analysed.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The research was supported by the National Social Science Foundation for Education of China.

Citation

Zheng, X. and Luo, Y. (2024), "How do departmental professional learning communities and teacher leadership matter for teacher self-efficacy? A multi-level analysis", Journal of Professional Capital and Community, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 51-67. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPCC-07-2023-0051

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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