THE INFLUENCE OF COLLEGIAL COHESION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES IN PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55687/ste.v5i1.268Keywords:
collegial cohesion; professional learning communities; teacher collaboration; school leadership; professional developmentAbstract
This study examined how collegial cohesion influenced the implementation of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) in public elementary schools in Tayabas City; it asked how teacher demographics, four cohesion domains, and four PLC domains related, and whether differences across profiles and an association between cohesion and PLC implementation existed. A descriptive–correlational design was used; it described the current state of trust and respect, open communication, shared decision-making, and interpersonal support alongside collective learning, collaborative culture, focus on student outcomes, and reflective dialogue, then tested the relationship between cohesion and PLC practice without manipulating school conditions. The population consisted of 470 public elementary teachers; a random sample of 212 teachers with at least three years of service was drawn using the Raosoft calculator (95% confidence; 5% margin of error) to reflect varied school contexts. Findings indicated that the workforce was largely mid-career to senior and female, many with graduate exposure and clustered at Teacher II–III; cohesion was strong across all domains with interpersonal support most prominent; PLC implementation was mature across collective learning, collaboration, outcomes focus, and reflective dialogue; cohesion did not differ by age, sex, education, or years in service but varied by position and by training volume; PLC implementation differed only by training volume; cohesion and PLC implementation showed a strong positive association. Guided by these results, the study proposed the Collegial Cohesion C2I Framework, which organized improvement into four pillars: Relational Foundations, Shared Decision Architecture, Interpersonal Support, and a PD-to-Practice Pipeline with equity safeguards. Recommendations targeted classroom and system action: weekly PLC cycles that use decision maps and micro-demos; protected PLC time, decision logs, and mentoring; funded cluster PD with coached follow-ups; policy support for PD Ambassador roles and schedule time tied to evidence of classroom carryover; and future multi-site mixed-methods research to test causal pathways and mediation by collective efficacy.
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