Date of Award

5-2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

Department

Educational Leadership

First Advisor

Dr. Mohamed AI Hosani

Second Advisor

Dr. Shaikah AI Taneiji

Third Advisor

Dr. Sultan AI Suwaidi

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the extent to which different components of the Professional Learning Community (PLC) were being practiced at the Bani Kinanah secondary schools in Jordan. The study employed a mixed approach to collect data, including a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. For the quantitative approach, 1110 participants responded to the questionnaire. For the qualitative approach, four schools participated: two female schools and two male schools. In every school, three educators have been interviewed. Findings revealed that the extent to which the different components of PLCs were practiced at the Bani Kinanah secondary schools was high, according to quantitative data. Moreover, females and males found statistically significant differences in the extent to which these different components were practiced, with more females involved in their use. Moreover, study findings indicated qualitatively six main obstacles to the implementation of PLC characteristics at the Bani Kinanah schools: lack clarity in the shared mission, vision, values, and goals at the school, which should focus on student learning; isolation among some staff members; absence of collective inquiry into best practices and current reality by staff members; lack of commitment to continuous improvement among some educators at the Bani Kinanah schools; the lack of understanding about the purpose of documentation of the results among educators; and the existence of ineffective professional development programs. The previous results revealed a contradiction between the results of qualitative and quantitative methods, which may happen in the mixed approach. This contradiction can be explained as following: first, some participants might not response to the questionnaire seriously. Moreover, the responses of educators to a questionnaire might influence by their personal evaluations, current situations, and job satisfaction. Second, the participants might give more details during the interview due to the follow up questions by the researcher. Furthermore, the qualitative interviews might more comfortable to the participants because of personal interaction with them.

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