Development of professional learning communities amongst elementary school home room teachers (Hebrew)

Homeroom teachers (HRTs) in Israel are at the forefront of educational activity and are primarily responsible for the students’ wellbeing at school. They coordinate connections between students, teachers, professional staff, parents, and the wider community, and constitute a central link in students’ socialization and their learning processes at school. Studies indicate a lack of specialized professional training for the role of HRT, with professional development being mainly disciplinary, while this is being transformed in 2021 through teacher training and professional development programs. The literature indicates that HRTs work autonomously with their limited possibilities for consulting with colleagues, creating isolation. Solutions are thus required to enable them to develop professional expertise and alleviate their loneliness. As HRTs’ roles include skills amenable to collective learning, a professional learning community (PLC) may enable joint role exploration, and improve the status of HRTs, while creating expertise and offering paths to professional development. PLCs enable group examination and discussion of knowledge and practice, aiming for professional improvement. Amongst teachers, these communities are important resources for professional development and for alleviating isolation. The literature indicates that while PLCs exist for teachers of specific disciplines, principals, or supervisors, few exist for teachers in general and for HRTs in particular. We suggest they could function as a professional resource for HRTs focusing on the essence of their role as homeroom educators.
This study focuses on PLCs for HRTs, examining their contribution to their professional development and well-being. The theoretical framework chosen, highlighting the holistic factors of the role, was Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model (Bronfenbrenner, 1977, 2005), which helped examine individual factors together with contextual processes surrounding HRTs’ professional development in PLCs. The model is part of a wider theory proposing that a person is both influenced by, and influences his environment, striving to shape their environment to optimize adaptation and balance in life. A person’s ecological environment is described using concentric circles surrounding the individual. Understanding the person’s interactions with their environment is fundamental to understanding their perceptions, attitudes and behavior. Examining the school’s ecological culture surrounding HRTs’ work means examining all interactions in the school and its environment, including the HRTs’ interactions with students, co-workers, school principal, parents, the community, and policy makers. The uniqueness of school ecological culture in contrast to concepts of ‘school culture’ or ‘school climate’ relates to the emphasis on the integrative influence of personal and environmental factors with adjacent levels influencing each other and contributing together to development.
The following research questions were examined: (1) What significance do elementary school HRTs attribute to the process in PLCs, and their contribution to the perception of the role and their educational work? (2) How do HRTs perceive the affinity between their professional
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development in their PLC and the components of ecological culture? (3) What factors promote or hinder the process taking place in PLCs in the HRTs’ view?
To answer the research questions, the study was carried out using the qualitative case study method, allowing each level of the ecological model to be examined in depth. Data collection was undertaken using research tools including semi-structured in-depth interviews, focus groups and document analysis. The study population consisted of three elementary school communities (between 11 and 14 HRTs were interviewed in each community), with three principals, two program leaders, three community activists and two Ministry of Education representatives. The interviews took place at the beginning, middle and end of the community-building process. Data collection lasted two years from 2021-2022. A total of 118 semi-structured interviews were conducted.
The data analysis process followed qualitative research principles, using a ‘developing’ investigative method; involving “bottom up” category construction through an indicative process, working ‘back and forth’ between the data, content and category construction creating a comprehensive category system. Categorization included: dividing the data into separate sections, associating the segments into categories in new, different orders. Category themes were formulated and assigned according to Bronfenbrenner's ecological levels of the HRTs’ work. Often repeated (sometimes by percentages) and uniquely occurring individual perceptions were presented to include the diverse spectrum of perceptions. Counting themes in percentages is controversial in qualitative research, yet recently has received recognition in leading qualitative journals. Assigning numerical labels helped in finding common themes and patterns. Reflective awareness of the data generation processes was maintained, with number use complementing the qualitative research process.
To answer the first research question, we examined the significance that HRTs attribute to the learning process in the PLC and its contribution to changes in their perceptions as the community progressed and developed. At the program start, six main themes emerged: (1) Learning – HRTs expected experiential peer learning, active workshops, receiving personal attention; (2) Field practices – HRTs expected practical tools for use in the school classroom; (3) Facilitators – HRTs requested more practical and less theoretical guidance; (4) Personal benefit – HRTs expressed desires for personal development, empowerment and opportunities for venting emotions; (5) Expectations at the team level – HRTs expected teamwork characterized by openness, trust, belonging, and shared destiny; (6) Contribution to the HRTs’ identity – HRTs expected to receive technical and practical tools.
Mid-program, three main themes arose regarding the community-building process; (1) Importance of the atmosphere of trust, belonging, and openness; (2) Importance of building community meetings stemming from HRTs’ needs; (3) Importance of building shared knowledge in the PLC. Studies have shown that for elementary school HRTs, flow experiences
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and positive emotions were associated with a sense of school belonging, meaning at work, teaching efficacy, and mental well-being. Mid-program, three main themes were found regarding the perception of the learning process in the PLC: (1) Learning through emotional social discourse; (2) Investigative learning through case analysis and simulations; (3) The PLC as a workshop that focuses on a good balance of practice and theory. This is supported by the PLC literature contending that focusing on investigative, collaborative, and responsible learning leads to significant positive effects on teachers’ self-efficacy and satisfaction (Zhang & Wang, 2023). The HRTs’ initial expectations match the perception of community-building and learning processes, with exploratory learning and field practice being essential throughout.
For perceptions of the role of HRT’s, four main themes were initially found: (1) The role offers social, emotional support; (2) Pedagogic/teaching role; (3) A holistic response to the students’ needs – emotional, social, learning and pedagogic, with interactions with the many figures surrounding the student and the HRT; (4) The prestige of the HRT role. These role perceptions vary in percentage throughout the process of community building and development. Initially analysis revealed that the social-emotional role had the highest percentage of repetitions. After two years of HRTs’ participation in the community, the theme “perception of the role as social-emotional” was still prominent as the central theme and was found to have 64% repetition. These findings correspond with the literature on the therapeutic work that is deeply interwoven into HRTs’ work in Israel. Although a one-dimensional perception of beliefs regarding the HRTs’ professional identity, as an emotional-social role appeared to be found, deeper analysis (using the concept ranking model described below) showed a shift of HRTs toward a broader holistic role perception over time. In interviews, the researcher examined whether the emotional role stood out in the themes due to the upheavals in the education system around the Covid-19 crisis and Operation ‘Guardian of the Walls’. From the HRT’s responses, it is clear that even before the crises, the HRTs perceive the social-emotional role as central. The changes of each HRT’s perception of her role were then examined. A theoretical model for examining role perception was developed: “A model ranking patterns of role perception.” The divisions are emotional alone, social alone, social and emotional together and holistic. This model examined whether additional role concepts had been added to the HRT by the program end. Was there a shift from emotional to pedagogic emotional, or from pedagogic to holistic? When it emerged that an HRT holds an emotional, pedagogic, and holistic role concept together, she will in fact be defined with an “ecological” role perception. The role perception was examined using a qualitative method. To examine the changes in the role perception over time, theme repetition was counted, noting the change in the HRT’s discourse. Findings indicate that 26.31% of the study participants had an ecological role perception at the beginning of the program, while after two years in the PLC, it emerged that 42.10% of the HRTs describe an ecological role perception. In addition, 57.89% of the HRTs reported that their participation in the PLC helped formulate their perception of their role.
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To answer the second research question, the contribution of the PLC to HRTs was examined regarding their responsibilities in relation to the ecological model. While answering this question, an issue arose regarding the concept of “tools” and it was found necessary to examine HRTs’ perception of “tools”. It was found that the word “tools” among HRTs usually means a didactic tool, a game method, or a lesson plan. We then examined the HRTs’ perception of the community’s contribution to their professional development and role. The themes that arose were divided according to the levels of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological culture model: (1) Individual level – participation in the community provided HRTs with practical tools. (2) Microsystem/interpersonal level – the layer of interpersonal interaction describing connections and social roles that exist between the HRT and her environment. The HRTs described progress in: (a) collaboration with HRTs; (b) obtaining communication tools for relationships with students; (c) obtaining learning tools vis-à-vis students; (3) Mesosystem / Organizational layer – the relationships between the HRT and administration. Two main themes emerged: (a) obtaining tools and strengthening relationships with the school administration (b) overflow to the school organizational culture; (4) Exosystem/community level –social structures around the HRTs’ work, such as parental involvement. Increasing development of relationships with students’ parents and the acquisition of tools. To answer the third question, factors promoting and hindering the learning process in PLCs were examined. The promoting factors: (a) Individual level – process-oriented HRTs, such as: a strong and cohesive team, cooperation and willingness to develop, open-mindedness; (b) Organizational level –regulated organizational infrastructure: strong management, unified language, stable team; (c) Policy level (operators, leaders and Ministry of Education representatives) – attentiveness to HRTs in the social construction of shared knowledge, a sense of investment in them. Hindering factors: (a) Individual level –HRTs not process-oriented: lack of cooperation in the community, unwillingness to professionalize, lack of flexibility, perceptual fixation, difficulty with change; (b) Organizational level – logistics, global health crisis, synchronous learning, meeting lengths and dates; (c) Policy level: irrelevance to HRT needs, lacking focus, being judgmental. Theoretical and practical contributions of the study. One theoretical contribution stems from the “model ranking patterns of role perception” developed, which may serve researchers. It cross-references ecological approaches in the HRTs’ role perception, offering a holistic concept of the HRTs’ role. This model may practically serve educational communities in the training of HRTs and future PLCs, enabling the development of a broad perception of the role of the HRT, being responsible for nurturing students, their emotional well-being, and learning aspects. Secondly, factors promoting and inhibiting the establishment of PLCs were identified. Theoretically these factors can contribute to research seeking to examine the different levels surrounding the HRT and the coherence between all stakeholders. Practically this knowledge may facilitate the establishment of future PLCs for HRTs. We recommend granting HRTs autonomy in
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professional development processes, strengthening their level of partnership in community building and content, addressing their needs and improving the organizational climate in which they operate. Thirdly, from an analysis of the perceptions of HRTs, community facilitators, and policy makers, this study proposed a model: “The Ten Commandments for Establishing an Optimal Community.” This theoretical model summarizes key insights from the study participants. It has practical implications for the establishment of future PLCs that address the ecological components surrounding the HRT. It may serve as a ‘guide to the perplexed’ for coordinators, policy makers, institutions and teacher training units.
This study has several limitations including: The qualitative research method focuses on a minority of subjects, limiting generalization of the study; The researcher’s conceptual perspectives (Shkedi, 2003) required consideration; The timing required the researcher to assess whether the crises of the Covid epidemic and a military operation affected perceptions; Potential problems with the use of numbers in qualitative research were considered. In addition, the main analysis tables are presented in the appendices for the purpose of transparency in the repetition and counting of themes; The research is culturally dependent, only relating to the unique role of HRTs in Israel. Several follow-up studies are proposed. Firstly, conducting a lengthy combined study (quantitative and qualitative) increasing the number of research participants, thus enabling greater generalization. Secondly, examining the research issues with novice and veteran HRTs, and comparing between HRTs in elementary schools and secondary schools. Thirdly, different cultural contexts could be studied to extend the range to different cultures and countries.