Mediating Effects of Trust on the Professional Learning Community and Teachers’ Professional Development in Malaysian Secondary Schools
Keywords:
professional learning community, trust, shared leadership, collaboration, school cultureAbstract
Professional learning community (PLC) has been commonly acknowledged as an important approach to enhance teachers’ professional competencies and improve students’ learning outcome. Trust is regarded as the main pillar for the implementation of effective PLC in schools. Previous studies on PLC have mainly focused on the role of trust as mediator between leadership and PLC. However, there is no research conducted in Malaysia on the importance of trust as the mediator between PLC and teacher professional development. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between PLC and TPD, with specific emphasis on the role of trust as mediator between professional learning community and teachers’ professional development (TPD) in the Malaysian context. Using a quantitative research design, survey questionnaires were administered to 272 teachers in 16 secondary schools in Peninsular Malaysia. The data collected were analyzed using Amos-SEM. The findings suggest that domains of PLC such as collaboration, de-privatization of practice supportive conditions and school culture has direct and significant effect on TPD, while there is no effect of shared leadership and decision making with TPD. However, trust has a significant and direct effect on TPD. Similarly, the mediating analysis indicated partial and full mediation between domains of PLC and TPD. Overall, the findings indicate that PLC can contribute to TPD through trust. These results provide insights to policymakers and school leaders on the importance of inculcating trust in school culture to ensure teachers can collaborate for enhancing their professional competencies.
References
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