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Professional learning communities in Singapore and Shanghai: Implications for teacher collaboration
Citation
Salleh Hairon & Tan, C. (2017). Education policy borrowing in China: Has the West wind overpowered the East wind? Compare - A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 47(1), 91-104. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2016.1153408
Abstract
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) have been recognized as having the potential to raise the quality of teachers, teaching, and student learning through structured teacher collaboration, and have been featured prominently in Singapore and Shanghai – both considered top-performing Asian societies in the Programme
for International Student Assessment (PISA). Although embedded in education systems that are considered centralized, there are still significant differences. Drawing out key implications from the experiences of Singapore and Shanghai, this paper highlights the potential challenges in implementing PLCs. These
challenges include heavy teacher workload, ambiguities in the understanding and implementation of PLCs, and hierarchical work structures. The discussions emanating from the comparison between Singapore and Shanghai PLCs seek to contribute towards the international literature on fostering teacher collaboration
through PLCs, which has been predominantly western centric.
Date Issued
2017
DOI
10.1080/03057925.2016.1153408
Description
This is the final draft, after peer-review, of a manuscript published in Compare - A Journal of Comparative and International Education. The published version is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2016.1153408