ASSESSING COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS IN ONE FINNISH MUNICIPALITY AS PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES
Keywords:
Professional learning communities, shared supportive leadership, collective creativity, shared values and vision,, community of learners, municipality, learning organizationsAbstract
A professional learning community is an ideal way to build and sustain an effective school culture and turn the school around. As professional learning communities continue to offer tremendous rewards to teachers and students, it is time researchers focus more on school self-assessment issues, using the lenses of professional learning communities. This paper presents an insight of how Finnish teachers and principals in the selected schools in one municipality assess their schools as professional learning communities. This study used a quantitative research method. Questionnaires were administered to teachers and principals of schools in the municipality and the responses were from comprehensive schools. This study has presented how teachers and principals assess their schools as professional learning communities. The study has not only presented teachers’ assessment of their schools; it has also presented the warning sign (poor performance) on supportive condition – structures’ component and this add to the future challenges faced by these schools. This article helps to stir up debate in educational leadership and inspires educational leaders to ask questions like: From the teachers’ self-assessment, in what areas do teachers need more support?
