Professional learning communities are highlighted by school research as a central factor in developing schools.
The National Curriculum 2020 requires that all employees must be actively participating in professional learning communities to further develop teaching practices.
"The thesis examines the quality of professional learning communities, and relationships between professional learning communities, teachers' teaching practices and leadership for learning," writes Mette Marit Forsmo Jenssen to inn.no.
She has completed her doctoral work within the PhD programme Teaching and Teacher Education.
The thesis has a quantitative approach and is a cross-sectional study of teacher and school leader assessments from a survey conducted as a part of the R&D project “Culture for learning” in former Hedmark county.
"Professional learning communities involve processes where teachers are critical of their practice. It involves deep realizations about acting differently, which is emotionally and cognitively demanding, and time-consuming," according to Forsmo Jenssen.
"The thesis contributes to increased knowledge about the importance of leadership for these processes, but the chain of influence is probably neither linear nor one-way, rather cyclical or recursive," she adds.
"This knowledge is central to understand the contextual conditions for school leadership, and perhaps we might underestimate both what is required of teachers to change practice, and what is required of school leaders to lead teachers learning," says Forsmo Jenssen.
The main findings of the doctoral work:
- There are considerable variations regarding the quality of professional learning communities in schools. It can largely be explained by school leadership for learning.
- Three distinct core practices of leadership appear to be central for developing the capacity of leadership for learning.
- There are relatively weak relationships between professional learning and teaching practices. Yet, there are findings to indicate that professional learning communities are of importance, and that it can be a matter of challenging and changing the school code.
Contact information:
- mette.jenssen@inn.no
- Phone
- +47 62 51 72 20
About the public defence:
Mette Marit Forsmo Jenssen will defend her doctoral work within the PhD programme in Teaching and Teacher Education at INN University on 23.01.2023.
The title of the thesis is: "Professional learning communities in schools. An opportunity for collective learning and better teaching practice?".
Place: Auditorium 3 at Hamar campus and digitally via Zoom (see instructions below)
The trial lecture starts at 10.15. Topic: "Discussion on basic scientific theoretical problems related to research on professional learning communities in schools."
The public defence starts at 12.15.
Link to the public defence: https://inn.zoom.us/j/68765507357?pwd=NTBvc2JrcGpkNnhDaTN6Vzl5cytaZz09
Webinar ID: 68 765 507 357. Password: 495549
The evaluation committee consists of:
- First opponent: Professor Eyvind Elstad (University of Oslo)
- Second opponent: Professor Anne Berit Emstad (NTNU)
- Administrator: Associate Professor Ann Margareth Gustavsen (INN University)
- Chair of the evaluation committee: to be announced
The candidate's lead supervisor has been professor Thomas Nordahl (INN University). The co-supervisor has been professor Jan Merok Paulsen (OsloMet).
Any opponents ex auditorio must sign up during the break between the first and second opponent. This should be done by notifying the chair of the evaluation committee by SMS (the phone number will be provided in the chat during the public defence). Those present in person can contact the chair directly during the break. Such contributions must be well prepared and precisely formulated and be submitted with a maximum of 800 words / 10 minutes of speech time.
Guide to using Zoom
The public defence will be streamed via Zoom Webinar.
Join using Zoom Client. All participants must download the program in advance. If you do not have it already, you can obtain it here (free). Select the topmost, "Zoom Client for Meetings".
Log in 5-10 minutes before the start of the session. The people in charge of the sessions are in place 10 minutes before the sessions begin.
Network cable instead of Wi-Fi. It is more reliable to use a fixed network cable than a wireless network, as it minimizes the risk of choppy sound and blurred video.
Using the chat function is not allowed during the trial lecture or public defence.
If you have technical questions, these can be sent by e-mail to mehran.amirnejad@inn.no.
If you wish to leave the meeting along the way, press “Leave Meeting” at the bottom of the screen. You will be able to re-join the session by using the same link above.
This public defence was held on 23.1.2023.
This article was translated from Norwegian by Noorit Larsen.