Barriers to Implementation of Effective Professional Learning Communities

The implementation of professional learning communities (PLCs) in schools has been shown to increase the academic performance of students and develop a beneficial and productive culture of true teacher collaboration. Despite these demonstrated benefits, resistance to PLC implementation has been documented in various forms throughout the literature. The purpose of this study was to identify the barriers to PLC implementation and determine means of removing them. A social-constructivist theoretical framework was employed to explore the research questions, which examined the reasons for the resistance to full PLC implementation and the possibilities for overcoming resistance. A phenomenological research design was used to develop a thorough description of the implementation process through interviews and document analysis of PLC meeting notes. A combination of critical-case and network sampling was used to identify 9 teachers as participants to be interviewed for the study using predetermined criteria. Transcripts of participant interviews and notes taken during past PLC meetings were hand-coded using a 3-column procedure to identify codes, which were grouped into themes related to PLC implementation resistance. The main barriers to implementation identified in this project study were lack of time, lack of shared leadership, and lack of communication. The findings led to a project consisting of a series of professional development sessions for PLC leaders and teachers. The intent of the project is to eliminate PLC barriers and establish effective PLCs. The motivation behind this study and project is to bring about positive social change by assisting educators working to implement PLCs at their schools in the development of sustained PLCs that nurture the education of teachers and students.