PERCEIVED IMPACT OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES ON TEACHERS' PRACTICE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE.

Abstract

This study examined the perceived impact of professional learning communities on teachers’ practice in secondary schools in Anambra State. The study was guided by three research questions and three hypotheses. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. The population of the study comprised 7248 teachers in the 268 public secondary schools in Anambra State. The sample size for the study was 362 teachers. Proportionate sampling technique was used to determine the sample size. This sampling technique was used to select 5% of the population as the sample size. The instrument used for data collection was a self-structured questionnaire. The instrument was subjected to trial test with 20 teachers in public secondary schools in Enugu State. Cronbach Alpha was used to determine the internal consistency of the instrument. The instrument yielded an average reliability coefficient of 0.803. The researcher was able to administer 322(91.7%) and retrieved 311 correctly filled copies of the questionnaire which is 85.9% return rate. Mean ratings and standard deviation were used to analyze the questionnaire items. One sample T-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study found that through peer coaching, teachers have improved instructional delivery, received constructive feedback, and adopted new teaching strategies, while also managing classroom challenges more effectively. Subject-based clusters have strengthened content knowledge, encouraged collaboration, and supported alignment with curriculum trends. Lesson study teams have enhanced lesson planning, reflective practice, and identification of student learning needs. Based on the findings of this study, the study recommended that schools management should institutionalize peer coaching groups, subject-based clusters, and lesson study teams as part of ongoing professional development to enhance instructional delivery, reflective practice, and pedagogical innovation among teachers.