Principals’ Efficacy and Effectiveness in Fostering Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) in Bhutanese Secondary Schools
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61978/eduscape.v4i3.1594Keywords:
professional learning communities, principal leadership, teacher collaboration, school improvement, mixed-methods research, BhutanAbstract
This study examined the role of school principals in fostering Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and promoting teacher collaboration in Bhutanese secondary schools. Employing a concurrent mixed-methods design, the study administered a structured survey questionnaire and structured interview questions to a purposively selected sample of 67 participants comprising 13 principals and 54 teachers. Two scales, a PLC Leadership Scale and a Collaboration Scale, were used to collect quantitative data, both demonstrating excellent internal consistency (α = 0.948 and α = 0.931, respectively). Descriptive statistics revealed high mean perceptions of both principal PLC leadership (M = 4.397, SD = 0.560) and teacher collaboration (M = 4.381, SD = 0.495). Pearson's correlation analysis revealed a strong positive relationship between principal PLC leadership and teacher collaboration (r = 0.810, p < .001), explaining approximately 65.6% of shared variance between the two constructs. The findings highlight the centrality of principal leadership in cultivating collaborative professional cultures and offer practical and policy-relevant insights for school improvement in the Bhutanese context and beyond.
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