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Relationships between teacher value orientations, collegiality, and collaboration in school professional learning communities

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Abstract

Unlike past research which has mainly examined whole school or whole department professional learning communities, this study focused on factors related to effective collaborative practices within teacher learning teams. Our main objective was to ascertain the roles of team value orientations (collectivism and power distance) and team collegiality in explaining team collaboration. Based on data obtained from 207 learning teams, structural equation modelling demonstrated that team collectivism had a positive effect on team collegiality. In addition to being a significant positive predictor of team collaboration, team collegiality was also found to mediate the effects of team collectivism on team collaboration. Although we did not detect any significant direct or indirect effect of team power distance on team collegiality or team collaboration, latent interaction analysis identified team power distance as a moderator of the relationship between team collegiality and teacher collaboration. It was found that the positive effects of team collegiality on team collaboration were stronger for teams with lower levels of power distance. Our findings draw attention to the important roles of team value orientations and collegiality in the context of teacher professional learning. Implications for teacher professional development and directions for future studies were also discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

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  1. National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Nanyang Walk, Singapore, 637616, Singapore

    Hoi Kwan Ning, Daphnee Lee & Wing On Lee

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  1. Hoi Kwan Ning
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Correspondence to Hoi Kwan Ning.

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Ning, H.K., Lee, D. & Lee, W.O. Relationships between teacher value orientations, collegiality, and collaboration in school professional learning communities. Soc Psychol Educ 18, 337–354 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-015-9294-x

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