Abstract:
This study aimed to explore instructional leaders’ perceptions of leading Professional Learning and Development (PLD) in six private English language schools in Cambodia and sought to identify the challenges leaders faced in leading PLD for teachers in their schools. This study also explored teachers’ perceptions of the PLD provided by their leaders and the challenges they perceived as preventing their participation. A mixed method research design was adopted. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six instructional leaders who lead teacher PLD at their schools and 70 teachers from the six schools participated in an online questionnaire. Descriptive analysis was used to examine the quantitative questionnaire data and thematic analysis was used to interpret the qualitative questionnaire and interview data. The study found that in leading teacher PLD, most of the instructional leaders used a needs assessment process as a means of identifying the teachers’ needs for PLD. Most of the leaders promoted and supported teacher PLD through participating in PLD themselves, and they felt they did what they were supposed to do. They assessed the effectiveness of PLD through examining teacher feedback about PLD, observing teachers’ practice and monitoring student learning results. Leaders noted limited time, budget constraints and teacher resistance as challenges in leading PLD. Teachers’ perceptions of the PLD provided in their schools revealed that their involvement in planning and deciding on PLD was restricted. Furthermore, most teachers felt that the PLD provided did not meet their teaching and learning needs. They viewed time constraints and a lack of financial support from their schools as factors preventing their participation in PLD. The study indicates that instructional leaders need to involve teachers more in planning (e.g., identifying teachers’ PLD needs) and making decisions on PLD because the inclusion of their voices plays a significant role PLD in meeting their needs. PLD that meets the specific needs of teachers can then support the improvement of student learning outcomes. Furthermore, the study indicates that leaders need to use a greater range of information to evaluate the effectiveness of PLD with the main focus being on student learning outcomes.
