The Effect of Learning-Centered Leadership and Teacher Trust on Teacher Professional Learning

June 23, 2024

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Law & Policy, Professional Learning, Cultural Context

This study explored teacher professional learning in Turkey by investigating the effects of principal leadership and teacher trust on teacher professional learning. Most existing studies focus on either Anglo-Saxon countries, where schools have held a certain level of autonomy, or East Asian countries that have experienced significant decentralization policies during the last two decades. The researchers aimed to investigate the effect of school context on teacher professional learning in highly centralized systems where schools have a limited role in decision-making processes, such as in Turkey.

The authors had 3 research questions

1. How does the between-school variation compare with within-school variation in teacher professional learning in Turkish schools?
2. How is teachers’ trust in each other related to teacher professional learning in Turkish schools?
3. What is the relationship between learning-centered leadership practices of school principals and teacher professional learning in Turkish schools?

Leadership Practice Can Influence Teacher Professional Learning

This study draws on three important areas of pedagogic practice and research:

1. Teacher Professional Learning (TPL): Refers to a school-based learning process in which teachers play active roles and work closely with their colleagues, leading to improved classroom practices.
2. Learning-Centered Leadership (LCL): Leadership practices related to all kinds of learning activities in schools, including teacher learning.
3. Teacher Trust (TT): The willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the expectation that the other will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party.

The authors note that existing research provides strong evidence that the leadership practices of school principals can foster teachers’ professional learning. Additionally, trust plays a significant role among colleagues and administrators in improving organizational outcomes, and there is a growing body of research that has established a strong link between trust and teacher learning.

School-Level Trust is Necessary for Successful Professional Learning

The researchers used teacher and principal survey data collected from 85 elementary and secondary Turkish schools during the 2018–2019 academic year. The participants included 1,070 teachers and 85 principals across six provinces of Turkey. Data related to the dependent variable (teacher professional learning) was collected using a teacher professional learning scale with 1-5 Likert scales, where 1 represented ‘strongly disagree’ and 5 represented ‘strongly agree.’

The results showed:

1. Only a small proportion of variation in teacher professional learning can be attributed to between-school factors (research question 1).
2. Principals’ learning-centered leadership is not associated with teacher learning, and individual and school-level trust among teachers provides a better explanation of the largest variation in teacher professional learning (research questions 2 & 3).
3. Elementary schools differ significantly from high schools in terms of teachers’ involvement in teacher professional learning.

Organizational Trust is Necessary to Transform Schools Into Learning Environments

The researchers suggest that organizational trust remains an indispensable feature for transforming schools into a learning environment. As many nations around the world undergo substantial educational reforms emphasizing increased school-based teacher professional learning, it is recommended that they pay particular attention to organizational trust to facilitate teacher learning.

Although the researchers did not find a direct relationship between school leadership and teacher professional learning, they believe that an indirect relationship could be present, as indicated in previous studies.

The relatively small between-school variation in the sample suggests that schools design and implement workplace professional learning similarly, which could be explained by the central control of the schools. The researchers indicate that centrally designed, one-time, and one-size-fits-all approaches in professional learning do not result in changes that enhance teacher learning and student achievement. Therefore, they suggest that policymakers emphasize and encourage schools to design, implement, and sustain school-based professional development activities. They recommend that the Turkish Ministry of National Education shift from organizing national professional development activities to assisting each school in planning, designing, implementing, and assessing their professional learning according to their particular situation and needs.

The researchers explained the discrepancy between high school and elementary teachers by noting that high school teachers may only communicate and collaborate with those in their subject area departments, while elementary teachers communicate and collaborate across grade levels.

Notable Quotes

“Literature suggests that teachers’ engagement with more professional learning activities positively impacts their knowledge, attitudes and skills, resulting in better teaching quality and student learning”

“Related literature as well as policies will also benefit from case studies focusing on workplace professional learning activities in different educational contexts, especially the ones in transition from a centralized control to a higher school autonomy.”

“As many nations around the world have been undergoing substantial educational reforms that emphasize increased school based teacher professional learning, we recommend that they pay a particular attention to organizational trust as a means to facilitating teacher learning.”

Personal Takeaway

I liked that this study was not conducted in a Western context. The conclusions seemed relatively straightforward and somewhat expected. I would have liked to hear more explanation about the discrepancy between high school and elementary teachers’ involvement in professional learning. It was interesting to hear the authors note that teacher professional learning contrasts with professional development as it includes the “actual change in teachers’ beliefs and practices.” This study has not changed anything for me but rather confirms the importance of understanding one’s context and being responsive to it and that maintaining high levels of trust is imperative. – Matt Browne 

Citation

Bellibaş, M. Ş., & Gümüş, S. (2023). The effect of learning-centred leadership and teacher trust on teacher professional learning: Evidence from a centralised education system. Professional development in education, 49(5), 925-937.