Professional Learning Community as Catalyst for Teachers’ Innovative Behaviour: Evidence from High-Performing Schools in Indonesia

Abstract

Innovation means making a positive change, along with the ability to adjust to change in each teaching and learning situation. Change in teaching activities is particularly important in education as it enables them to adapt to the changes around them. Innovative activities in teaching, and particularly the construction of knowledge, are linked to the creative practices in teaching and therefore are considered fundamental to educational innovation. Innovation as a dominant theme of a research study has been conducted with a focus on exemplary secondary schools in the United States, where the role of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) is studied in teaching innovatively. These types of communities are built to foster professional collaboration and provide a framework for members to document and narrate stories to inspire and provoke the spirit of innovation and risk-taking in trying new things. Although the literature on high-performing schools is scant, it is accepted that configurations of such schools may provide a distinct context for cultivating innovation. The focus of this study was to review the available literature on PLCs and teacher innovation in exemplary schools, and to examine the role of PLCs in enhancing the innovative practices of teachers in exemplary schools in Indonesia. The study employed a questionnaire as the main instrument and a quantitative method to describe the phenomenon of Teacher PLCs in the given context. Data was collected from 212 teachers from 20 high-performing schools in Indonesia. The data reflected that in high-performing Indonesian schools, Teacher PLCs foster innovation. This indicated that Teacher PLCs, as a community fosters innovation among teachers.