A comparative and empirical study of the practices of professional learning communities between Hong Kong and Shanghai: contexts, processes and outcomes

The educational challenge facing many countries in the 21st century is to achieve higher levels of learning for all students and to increase global competitiveness in a knowledge society. School reforms across different education systems have targeted student learning outcomes, and teaching is considered to be the most powerful influence on a student’s achievement. International evidence suggests that the success of educational reforms depends on teachers’ individual and collective capacity and links to the school-wide capacity for promoting students’ learning.

Since the 1990s, the concept of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) has gained increasing attention from education systems. Research evidence consistently highlights the importance of interdependent learning and collaboration as the cornerstone of school improvement and effective professional development. However, much of the existing literature on PLCs has focussed on Anglo-American settings. The concept and practice of PLCs in other cultural contexts tends to be neglected and the absence of empirical research on PLCs is particularly acute in Asian settings. There is a need to explore the diversity and complexity of PLCs in different cultural contexts and broaden our understanding of critical issues facing educators, which is what this project aimed to do.

The theoretical framework outlined the research design and plan, the approaches and methodologies at three different stages of the study. The research addressed different research questions at different stages.

Stage One was a comparative sociocultural study of education reforms in two Chinese societies and an exploration of their relations to educational transformation and school improvement.

Stage Two involved comparative and quantitative assessments of the processes of PLCs across two Chinese societies and teachers’ perceptions of organisational outcomes.

Stage Three involved qualitative case studies on the processes of PLCs in schools across two Chinese societies.

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