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Asia-Pacific Forum
on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 12, Issue 1, Article 4 (Jun., 2011) |
Influence of Professional Learning Community (PLC) on secondary science teachers’ culture of professional practice: The case of Bangladesh
S M HAFIZUR RAHMAN
Institute of Education and Research (IER), University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, BANGLADESH
E-mail: smhrahman9@yahoo.com; Hafiz.Rahman@monash.edu
Received 1 May, 2011
Revised 29 Jun., 2011
Contents
While the current reform efforts in Bangladesh require a substantive change in how science is taught, an equally substantive change is needed in the culture of professional practice. This study will, therefore, investigate how science teachers’ learning in a professional learning community (PLC) influences the ways in which participant teachers learn about, and develop their practice. In so doing, teachers also work towards forming a professional learning community within and across schools. This study presents research from participating teachers’ post teaching discussions and subsequent workshop discussions that together comprised their PLC. Data have been drawn from 14 voluntary participant science teachers who were formed into seven peer pairs, from seven schools in Bangladesh. Each pair of teachers was located at the same school. The results indicate that the post teaching discussions and professional workshops offered participating teachers opportunities to discuss their problems regarding resources, content knowledge, pedagogy and the learning environment in the classroom. The findings of this study ultimately carry implications for science teachers’ practice and professional learning in secondary schools in Bangladesh, as well as for pre and in-service education for secondary science teachers.
Keywords: Professional Learning Communities; Professional Practice; Science Teachers; Bangladesh
