Teacher Professional Development through a Learning Organization “PISGAH Program for Principals within a School Framework”: A Multilevel Analysis Using the Internal Coherence Framework
Year: 2023
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Introduction: In the last decade, the demands and expectations for better quality teaching and learning have been receiving more emphasis and attention from policymakers, education researchers, and school leaders. Teachers' Professional Development (TPD), which can be defined as "activities that develop an individual’s skills, knowledge, expertise and other characteristics as a teacher" (OECD, 2017), is perceived to be a key factor in increasing the quality of teachers and advancing the education system. Thus, enabling teachers to learn within the school system, and to receive training that is tailored to their needs is of great importance. Several factors at the teacher and school level can be identified as important predictors of TPD. Studies refer to teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs as a significant component that contribute to the acquisition of new knowledge, better skills, and training. Moreover, studies point to teachers’ professional identity as having a major impact on their development. Furthermore, professional learning communities can also promote TPD since they serve as a place for teachers to share experiences, innovations, content, and problem solving, and to develop competencies within the school framework. Another important factor in cultivating TPD is the principal's leadership style. More specifically, a transformational leadership style encourages teachers to raise their quality of teaching and is also associated with improving teachers' self-efficacy, motivation, and commitment, as well as their cooperative professional development. In addition, the principal's selfefficacy beliefs and psychological empowerment may also positively affect TPD, since both of these predictors are associated with the principal's ability to impact and create desirable outcomes at the school level. In order to promote the quality and level of teaching in schools, the Israeli Ministry of Education established the PISGAH centres for the delivery and execution of teachers' professional development programs. In addition, the PISGAH centres employ a learning organization program to support school principals in the making of informed decisions concerning the development of the school's teaching staff, by providing ongoing detailed TPD status reports for each school. Thus far, no study in Israel has investigated the role of the abovementioned factors in predicting TPD. Objectives: The present study main objective was to examine the factors that are associated with TPD both at the individual level of the teacher and the wider level of the school. Specifically, we aimed to examine how the teachers' self-efficacy, professional identity, level of participation in the school's professional learning communities, and their perceptions of the principal’s transformational leadership patterns affect their professional development. In addition, we aimed to examine how the principals' empowerment and professional self-efficacy influence the TPD of the school's teachers and how their level of participation in the PISGAH “Learning Organization Program” (LOP) impacts the TPD of the school's teachers. Methodology: A cross-sectional study design was conducted. The study sample included 36 principals and 412 teachers that were randomly selected from all Israel state elementary schools during the school year of 2020/2021. The conceptual framework involved variables at two levels: At the teacher level, the present study used the measures of TPD, teachers' self-efficacy, professional learning community, and the teachers' perceptions of the principal's transformational leadership patterns, which were adopted from the internal coherence assessment protocol (ICAP) framework (Elmore et al., 2014). At the principal level, the measures of principals' self-efficacy, psychological empowerment, and level of participation in PISGAH learning organization program were employed. First, the data were analyzed separately for teachers and principals to examine each level's associations with TPD, after which were consolidated to conduct Multi-Level Modelling (HLM) analysis to assess the effects of the principal level on the teacher level. Results: The separate analysis at the teacher level revealed that higher perceptions of principals’ transformation leadership patterns (β = .28, p <.05), professional learning communities (β = .24, p < .05) and self-efficacy (β = .23, p <.05) predicted TPD. At the principal level, none of the tested variables were found to be associated with TPD. The consolidated HLM analysis showed that higher perceptions of principal's transformation leadership patterns (β = .44, p < .05), and higher teacher self-efficacy (β = .33, p < .05), were positively correlated with TPD. In addition, the principal's professional self-efficacy was also positively correlated with TPD (β = .13, p < .05). Variables in the model explained about 76% of the total variance in TPD. Conclusions: The results of the present study attest to the importance of the principal's leadership in predicting TPD and reinforce the key role of the principal's leadership in cultivating a learning organization and developing the professionalism of the schoolteachers. Senge (1990) emphasizes the importance of both individual and organizational learning for the growth of an organization. As a result, such learning necessitates a setting that encourages independent thinking, new ideas, and continuous learning. A learning organization can become more flexible, adaptive, and productive, allowing it to perform exceptionally well in a competitive world. Furthermore, the teacher's self-efficacy and the professional self-efficacy of the principal were also found to be important predictors of TPD. Overall, the findings of this study serve as an analysis of the current scope of teachers’ professional development in Israel and suggest the principal’s and teacher’s roles in the ecosystem of improving the educational system. Finally, limitations of the present research were presented, and future research directions were suggested.
Author: Hilel, Anat
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6996887700