Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• Masoomeh Hormozinejad ¹
• Mojtaba Jahanifar ²
• Maria Nasiri ³

¹ PhD student, Department of Educational Management, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

³ Assistant Professor, Department of Information Science and Epistemology, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

Introduction
Professional learning communities provide a framework and process for continuous learning and professional growth of teachers. It is because, based on the general policies of creating transformation in the education system, the development of teachers' participation depends on the process of improving educational, research, and cultural programs. Based on this, teachers need to have critical problem-solving skills and the power of divergent thinking to respond to the necessities of life. In addition, for living in the future society, which is rightly named the age of knowledge and information, professional learning communities for teachers will provide the basis for proposing various ideas, and it is something that can be an answer to coordinate with educational developments. Therefore, the need for a conceptual model of the professional learning community in teaching and learning is something that is becoming more apparent day by day. Because the basic purpose of professional development, which is also known as employees development, is to empower them to accept responsibility from a different perspective or to use new strategies. In professional learning communities, teachers and administrators of a school continuously seek to learn and share knowledge and act on their learning. The purpose of this learning is to increase their effectiveness in teaching students effectively. The lack of ability to create various interactions between users and the lack of a favorable environment for social participation are matters of interest in this field.  Therefore, this research aimed to design a conceptual model of the professional learning community of secondary school teachers in Khuzestan province.
 
Method
The research was of the developmental-applied research type and qualitative method. In this
research, the approach of the qualitative part of the research was based on the database theory and the data collection tool of semi-structured interviews with 18 university professors and experts, and activists in secondary schools. The data were analyzed using the grand theory analysis method. The obtained data were processed during 3 steps of open, central and selective coding. Atlasti software was used to analyze and interpret data.
 
Results
18 interviews were analyzed with 169 open codes, and with Strauss and Corbin's paradigm model, 17 core codes (causal conditions included, 4 core codes 1-individual factors with the categories of individual health, personality pattern and individual values 2-group factors including the categories of participation, teachers' solidarity 3-organizational factors with the categories of organizational values and organizational will 4-social factors including the categories of social solidarity and social accountability; the platform conditions include 3 core codes and 7 categories including 1-group platforms including the category of education 2-organizational platforms including the categories of organizational culture , organizational climate 3- Individual platforms including the categories of managerial characteristics, functional skills, career development and expertise and experience; intervention conditions including 1- organizational interventionist with the categories of executive and legal obstacles and informational and motivational obstacles 2- social interventionist including the categories of social conditions and Economic political conditions; the conditions of strategies include 1- individual strategies including the categories of selection and appointment, educational interventions and knowledge management 2- group strategies including the category of organizational communication management 3- organizational strategies including the categories of collaborative management, structural changes, evidence-based management and support of Educational systems 4- Social strategies including the categories of educational foundation, cultural foundation and development of trust in the society; and the conditions of the consequences including 1- Individual consequences including the categories of improving the mental state, improving the psychological state and improving the job attitude 2- Group consequences including the category of cooperation and group participation 3- Organizational consequences including the categories of service quality improvement, stakeholder satisfaction, organizational dynamism and agility, vitality Organizational and organizational citizenship behaviors 4-Social outcome included the categories of social capital development and social well-being.
 
Discussion
For the success of an education and training system, it is necessary to create and pay special attention to professional learning communities in the educational systems, and the more active professional learning communities exist in an educational system, the more successful the system will be. Therefore, based on the results of the current research, 1- providing opportunities and necessary conditions for the formation of positive and constructive changes and transformations in the school according to the needs of the society and helping people to accept these changes and go along with them 2- Providing suitable facilities and conditions for the access of teachers and the school staffs to important and key information for better educational decision-making, learning and teaching 3-Continuous monitoring of teachers' success and timely appreciation of them, especially when this success is only the result of teachers' group contributions 4-Appropriate use of opinions and suggestions of teachers, parents and the administrative staff of the school to solve school problems by providing areas for active participation, substitution and voluntary transfer of authority to them. 5- Creating an organic structure in the school based on dynamic and flexible relationships to transform it into a learning environment by reducing concentration and creating a fluid process in Information flow, experience sharing and doing things are recommended.
 

Keywords

• Professional learning
• professional learning community
• teachers