Investigating the development of professional learning communities: compare schools in Shanghai and Southwest China

Asia Pacific Journal of Education

Volumn 36, Issue 2, 2016, Pages 217-230

  Zhang, Jia ^a   Sun Keung Pang, Nicholas ^b  

^a ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY   (China)

^b CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG   (Hong Kong)

Author keywords

China; educational development; Professional learning communities; regional context specificity; school improvement; Shanghai

Indexed keywords

EID: 84963657314     PISSN: 02188791     EISSN: 17426855     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/02188791.2016.1148851     Document Type: Article

References (49)

1. C.Argyris, (1990). Overcoming organisational defense: Facilitating organisational learning. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
2. T.Bush, & H.Qiang, (2000). Leadership and culture in Chinese education. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 20(2), 58–67.
3. G.Chen, (2006). A commentary on the teaching research group phenomenon in China. Nantong University Journal, 22(4), 1–4. [In Chinese].
4. A.Cheng, (2013). The almanac of China’s cities. Beijing: China Urban Almanac Press. [In Chinese].
5. K.Cheng, & K.Wong, (1996). School effectiveness in East Asia: Concepts, origins and implications. Journal of Educational Administration, 34(5), 32–49.
6. K.M.Cheng, (2011). Shanghai: How a big city in a developing country leaped to the head of the class. In M.S.Tucker (Ed.), “Surpassing Shanghai”: An agenda for American education built on the world’s leading systems (pp. 21–50). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
7. R.DuFour,., & R.Eaker,. (1998). Professional learning communities at work：Best practices for enhancing student achievement. Bloomington, IN: National Education Service; Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
8. R.DuFour, (1999). Help wanted: Principals who can lead professional learning communities. NASSP Bulletin, 83(614), 12–17.
9. R.Gajda, & C.Koliba, (2007). Evaluating the imperative of intraorganisational collaboration: A school improvement perspective. American Journal of Evaluation, 28(1), 26–44.
10. C.Giles, & A.Hargreaves, (2006). The sustainability of innovative schools as learning organisations and professional learning communities during standardised reform. Educational Administration Quarterly, 42(1), 124–156.
11. S.Hairon, & C.Dimmock, (2012). Singapore schools and professional learning communities: Teacher professional development and school leadership in an Asian hierarchical system. Educational Review, 64(4), 405–424.
12. P.Hallinger,, M.Lee,, & J.Ko, (2014). Exploring the impact of school principals on teacher professional communities in Hong Kong. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 13(3), 229–259.
13. A.Hargreaves, (1994). Changing teachers, changing times: Teachers' work and culture in the postmodern age. London: Cassell.
14. A.Harris, (2010). Leading system transformation. School Leadership and Management, 30(30), 197–207.
15. A.Harris, (2013). Distributed leadership matters: Perspectives, practicalities, and potential. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
16. A.Harris, & M.Jones, (2010). Professional learning communities and system improvement. Improving Schools, 13(2), 172–181.
17. K.K.Hipp, & J.B.Huffman, (2010). Demystifying professional learning communities: School leadership at its best. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
18. S.M.Hord, (1997). Professional learning communities: Communities of continuous inquiry and improvement. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Lab.
19. S.M.Hord,, & W.A.Sommers,. (2008). Leading professional learning communities: Voices from research and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press; National Association of Secondary School Principals: NSDC.
20. J.B.Huffman, & K.K.Hipp, (2003). Reculturing schools as professional learning communities. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
21. L.Jiang,, S.Liao,, W.Zhou,, L.Fang,, & Q.Shen, (2012). Survey report of teachers’ work pressure in primary and secondary schools of Shanghai. Shanghai Research on Education, 3, 39–43. [In Chinese].
22. J.F.Kilbane, (2010). Factors in sustaining professional learning community. NASSP Bulletin, 93(184), 184–205.
23. M.Lee,, K.S.Louis,, & S.Anderson, (2012). Local education authorities and student learning: The effects of policies and practices. School Effectiveness and School Improvement: An International Journal of Research, Policy and Practice, 23(2), 133–158.
24. R.A.Lindahl, (2011). Professional learning communities: A feasible reality or a chimera? In J.Alford, G.Perreault, L.Zellner, & W.Ballenger (Eds.), Blazing new trails: Preparing leaders to improve access and equity in today's schools (pp. 47–58). DEStech: Lancaster.
25. K.S.Louis, & S.D.Kruse, (1995). Professionalism and community: Perspectives on reforming urban schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
26. M.McLaughlin, & J.E.Talbert, (2007). Building professional learning communities in high schools: Challenges and promising practices. In L.Stoll & K.L.Louis (Eds.), Professional learning communities: Divergence, depth and dilemmas (pp. 151–165). Maidenhead: McGraw Hill-Open University Press.
27. OECD. (2010a). Shanghai and Hong Kong: Two distinct examples of education reform in China. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/34/45/46581016.pdf
28. OECD (2010b). PISA 2009 Results: What makes a school successful? Resources, policies and practices (Vol. IV): Retrieved from. doi:10.1787/9789264091559-en
29. L.W.Paine, & L.P.Ma, (1993). Teachers working together: A dialogue on organisational and cultural perspectives of Chinese teachers. International Journal of Educational Research, 19(8), 675–697.
30. K.Pyhalto,, T.Soini,, & J.Pietarinena, (2011). A systemic perspective on school reform: Principals’ and chief education officers’ perspectives on school development. Journal of Educational Administration, 49(1), 46–61.
31. R.Reichstetter,. (2006). Defining a professional learning community: A literature review(E&R Research Alert). Retrieved from http://www.wcpss.net/evaluation-research/reports/2006/0605plc_lit_review.pdf
32. J.Ryan,, C.Kang,, I.Mitchell,, & G.Erickson, (2009). China's basic education reform: An account of an international collaborative research and development project. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 29(4), 427–441.
33. T.C.Sargent, & E.Hannum, (2009). Doing more with less: Teacher professional learning communities in resource-constrained primary schools in rural China. Journal of Teacher Education, 60(3), 258–276.
34. Shanghai Municipal Education Commission. (2003). Implementation opinion on Shanghai actively advancing “School developmental supervision and evaluation” for secondary and primary schools. Retrieved from http://www.shmec.gov.cn/ [In Chinese]
35. H.Silins, & B.Mulford, (2004). Schools as learning organisations: Effects on teacher leadership and student outcomes. School Effectiveness and School Improvement: An International Journal of Research, Policy and Practice, 15(3–4), 443–466.
36. L.Stoll,, R.Bolam,, A.McMahon,, M.Wallace,, & S.Thomas, (2006). Professional learning communities: A review of the literature. Journal of Educational Change, 7(4), 221–258.
37. J.E.Talbert, (2010). Professional learning communities at the crossroads: How systems hinder or engender change. In A.Hargreaves, A.Lieberman, M.Fullan, & D.Hopkins (Eds.), Second international handbook of educational change (pp. 555–572). Dordrecht: Springer.
38. C.Tan, (2011). Framing educational success: A comparative study of Shanghai and Singapore. Education, Knowledge and Economy, 5(3), 155–166.
39. C.Tan, (2013). Learning from Shanghai: Lessons on achieving educational success. Dordrecht: Springer.
40. S.C.Thompson,, L.Gregg,, & J.M.Niska, (2004). Professional learning communities, leadership, and student learning. Research in Middle Level Education Online, 28(1), 1–15.
41. H.Timperley, (2008). Teacher professional learning and development [Booklet]. Geneva: International Academy of Education and International Bureau of Education.
42. A.Tsui,., & J.Wong,. (2009). In search of a third space: Teacher development in Mainland China. In C.K.K.Chan & N.Rao(Eds.), Revisiting the Chinese learner: Changing contexts, changing education(pp. 281–311). Hong Kong: Springer: Comparative Education Research Centre, Hong Kong University.
43. K.Wahlstrom, & K.S.Louis, (2008). How teachers experience principal leadership: The role of professional community, trust, efficacy and distributed responsibility. Educational Administration Quarterly, 44(4), 458–495.
44. C.Wells, & L.Feun, (2007). Implementation of learning community principles: A study of six high schools. NASSP Bulletin, 91(2), 141–160.
45. E.Wenger,. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press.
46. J.L.N.Wong, (2010). What makes a professional learning community to be possible? A case study of a Mathematics department in a junior secondary school of China. Asia Pacific Education Review, 11(2), 131–139.
47. K.Wong, (2005). Conditions and practices of successful principalship in Shanghai. Journal of Educational Administration, 43(6), 552–562.
48. J.Zhang, & N.S.K.Pang, (2016). Exploring the characteristics of professional learning communities in China: A mixed-method study. The Asia Pacific Educational Researcher,25(1), 11–21.
49. Y.Zhang,. (2008). Between civilisation and the countryside: An anthropological Study on custom life and the historical sense of Tunpu in Guizhou province (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Beijing: Minzu University of China. [In Chinese]