CHARACTERISTICS OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY AND ITS PERCEIVED EFFECTIVENESS IN THE MSEUF BASIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

Existing paradigms of professional development seem to undermine the rich wealth of experiences that teachers have in schools. Professional learning communities (PLCs) are designed to encourage teachers to look closely into their contexts and develop relevant courses of action towards their concerns. This study explored the experiences of the MSEUF Basic Education Department teachers while implementing PLCs. It focused on the characteristics of PLC implementation and their perceptions on the effectiveness of the PLC design. It also investigated their greatest challenges with PLCs. This quantitative research involved a survey methodology using the questionnaire to gather data from MSEUF Basic Education Department teachers. Frequency, weighted mean and ANOVA were used in the data analysis. Results revealed that the PLC characteristics and purpose were always implemented in the department. Evident in the characteristics are supportive and shared leadership, shared values and goals, group learning, enabling environments, and shared practice. On PLC effectiveness, the department structures time to work together to enhance student learning, teachers use the word “empowering” to describe their principal and have opportunities to learn how to use technology to enhance instruction and evaluation of professional development outcomes for professional development choices, adjust instruction and assessment to meet the needs of the diverse learners, use educational research to select programs, design improvement strategies based on clearly stated outcomes for teacher and student learning, work with more experienced teachers at school, create positive relationships with the students, and receive training on curriculum and instruction for students in different levels of learning. Meanwhile, common challenges encountered in the PLC implementation are the tendency of some teachers to be in their comfort zone in handling their personal affairs and become passive and reluctant. They are also overloaded with academic, co-curricular, administrative roles, and student engagement.