Teacher Professional Development through a Learning Organization “PISGAH Program for Principals within a School Framework”: A Multilevel Analysis Using the Internal Coherence Framework

Abstract

Introduction: In the last decade, the demands and expectations for better quality teaching and learning have been receiving more emphasis and attention from policymakers, education researchers, and school leaders. Teachers' Professional Development (TPD), which can be defined as "activities that develop an individual’s skills, knowledge, expertise and other characteristics as a teacher" (OECD, 2017), is perceived to be a key factor in increasing the quality of teachers and advancing the education system. Thus, enabling teachers to learn within the school system, and to receive training that is tailored to their needs is of great importance. Several factors at the teacher and school level can be identified as important predictors of TPD. Studies refer to teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs as a significant component that contribute to the acquisition of new knowledge, better skills, and training. Moreover, studies point to teachers’ professional identity as having a major impact on their development. Furthermore, professional learning communities can also promote TPD since they serve as a place for teachers to share experiences, innovations, content, and problem solving, and to develop competencies within the school framework. Another important factor in cultivating TPD is the principal's leadership style. More specifically, a transformational leadership style encourages teachers to raise their quality of teaching and is also associated with improving teachers' self-efficacy, motivation, and commitment, as well as their cooperative professional development. In addition, the principal's selfefficacy beliefs and psychological empowerment may also positively affect TPD, since both of these predictors are associated with the principal's ability to impact and create desirable outcomes at the school level. In order to promote the quality and level of teaching in schools, the Israeli Ministry of Education established the PISGAH centres for the delivery and execution of teachers' professional development programs. In addition, the PISGAH centres employ a learning organization program to support school principals in the making of informed decisions concerning the development of the school's teaching staff, by providing ongoing detailed TPD status reports for each school. Thus far, no study in Israel has investigated the role of the abovementioned factors in predicting TPD. Objectives: The present study main objective was to examine the factors that are associated with TPD both at the individual level of the teacher and the wider level of the school. Specifically, we aimed to examine how the teachers' self-efficacy, professional identity, level of participation in the school's professional learning communities, and their perceptions of the principal’s transformational leadership patterns affect their professional development. In addition, we aimed to examine how the principals' empowerment and professional self-efficacy influence the TPD of the school's teachers and how their level of participation in the PISGAH “Learning Organization Program” (LOP) impacts the TPD of the school's teachers. Methodology: A cross-sectional study design was conducted. The study sample included 36 principals and 412 teachers that were randomly selected from all Israel state elementary schools during the school year of 2020/2021. The conceptual framework involved variables at two levels: At the teacher level, the present study used the measures of TPD, teachers' self-efficacy, professional learning community, and the teachers' perceptions of the principal's transformational leadership patterns, which were adopted from the internal coherence assessment protocol (ICAP) framework (Elmore et al., 2014). At the principal level, the measures of principals' self-efficacy, psychological empowerment, and level of participation in PISGAH learning organization program were employed. First, the data were analyzed separately for teachers and principals to examine each level's associations with TPD, after which were consolidated to conduct Multi-Level Modelling (HLM) analysis to assess the effects of the principal level on the teacher level. Results: The separate analysis at the teacher level revealed that higher perceptions of principals’ transformation leadership patterns (β = .28, p <.05), professional learning communities (β = .24, p < .05) and self-efficacy (β = .23, p <.05) predicted TPD. At the principal level, none of the tested variables were found to be associated with TPD. The consolidated HLM analysis showed that higher perceptions of principal's transformation leadership patterns (β = .44, p < .05), and higher teacher self-efficacy (β = .33, p < .05), were positively correlated with TPD. In addition, the principal's professional self-efficacy was also positively correlated with TPD (β = .13, p < .05). Variables in the model explained about 76% of the total variance in TPD. Conclusions: The results of the present study attest to the importance of the principal's leadership in predicting TPD and reinforce the key role of the principal's leadership in cultivating a learning organization and developing the professionalism of the schoolteachers. Senge (1990) emphasizes the importance of both individual and organizational learning for the growth of an organization. As a result, such learning necessitates a setting that encourages independent thinking, new ideas, and continuous learning. A learning organization can become more flexible, adaptive, and productive, allowing it to perform exceptionally well in a competitive world. Furthermore, the teacher's self-efficacy and the professional self-efficacy of the principal were also found to be important predictors of TPD. Overall, the findings of this study serve as an analysis of the current scope of teachers’ professional development in Israel and suggest the principal’s and teacher’s roles in the ecosystem of improving the educational system. Finally, limitations of the present research were presented, and future research directions were suggested.

En la última década, el desarrollo profesional del personal docente ha sido clave para el avance de los sistemas educativos, ya que mejora la enseñanza, el aprendizaje y el crecimiento profesional del personal. El “Centro PISGAH” en Israel brindó un “Programa de Organización de Aprendizaje”, cuyo objetivo era proporcionar desarrollo profesional para directores de escuelas, adaptado a las necesidades de cada una de ellas. El objetivo principal del presente estudio fue examinar los factores que están asociados con el desarrollo profesional docente (TPD) a nivel individual del maestro, así como a un nivel más amplio del director. Específicamente, nuestro objetivo fue examinar cómo la autoeficacia de los docentes, la identidad profesional, el nivel de participación en las comunidades de aprendizaje profesional de la escuela y sus percepciones de los patrones de liderazgo transformacional del director afectan su desarrollo profesional. Además, nos propusimos examinar cómo el empoderamiento y la autoeficacia profesional de los directores influyen en el TPD de los docentes de la escuela y cómo su nivel de participación en el “Programa de Organización del Aprendizaje” (LOP) de PISGAH impacta en el TPD de los docentes de la escuela. Realizamos un estudio transversal. Se utilizaron datos del año escolar 2020/2021 sobre directores y maestros israelíes. La muestra del estudio estuvo compuesta por 36 directores y 412 docentes de primaria, los cuales fueron seleccionados al azar. Para evaluar los efectos del nivel de los directores en el nivel de los docentes, se realizó un modelo multinivel. En este modelo, TPD es la variable dependiente completada por los maestros, y las variables independientes fueron las variables de maestros y directores. Este estudio fue aprobado por el Ministerio de Educación de Israel. Los principales hallazgos mostraron una correlación positiva significativa entre las comunidades de aprendizaje profesional y TPD. Los resultados también mostraron que la percepción del liderazgo de transformación del director fue un predictor significativo de TPD, y que la autoeficacia de los docentes es un predictor significativo de TPD. Además, el modelo de regresión multinivel combinado de maestros y directores reveló que las percepciones de los maestros sobre el estilo de transformación del director fueron los predictores más fuertes de TPD. Además, el análisis HLM reveló que tanto la autoeficacia de los docentes como la de los directores son variables importantes para predecir el TPD. Por lo tanto, los hallazgos del estudio enfatizan la importancia de mejorar las habilidades de liderazgo de los directores de escuela para aumentar efectivamente la calidad profesional de su personal docente y de toda la escuela. Estos hallazgos dan fe de la practicidad y la importancia de los centros de aprendizaje PISGA y el programa LOP y exigen un examen más detenido de su implementación y usabilidad en todo el sistema educativo israelí.