TITLE:
Professional Learning Communities: A Comparative Study of Three Educational Areas in the North West Province of South Africa
AUTHORS:
D. Nkengbeza, J. Heystek
KEYWORDS:
Professional Learning Communities, Shared Supportive Leadership, Collective Creativity, Shared Values and Vision, Townships, Comparative Study
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.5 No.4,
April
21,
2017
ABSTRACT: Even though South African
policy makers and implementers have done a lot to improve education especially
in rural areas and townships, much more thinking and policy direction still
need to be done to improve education in these areas. The purpose of this
article is to compare the perception of teachers and principals of their
schools as professional learning communities in three educational areas in the
North West Province of South Africa. A quantitative research method was used
and questionnaires were used to collect data from schools in these three areas.
1251 teachers and principals were involved in this research. The major findings
were: there were no major differences between the three areas in teachers’ and
principals’ perception of their schools as PLCs, but there were major differences
between schools in urban centers, townships and rural areas. This study has
reiterated the fact that the South African government needs to rethink how to
readdress education and social needs in rural and township schools, as the
current policies have not completely addressed the disparities between schools
in rural areas, townships and urban centers.