Variables Affecting the Professional Learning Community of Small-Sized Primary Schools Under the Office of the Basic Education Commission

Abstract

The purposes of this research were; 1) to study the level of a professional learning community of small-sized primary schools under the Office of the Education Commission (OEC); 2) study the level of the variables that affected the level of a professional learning community of the small-sized primary schools under the OEC, and 3) study the variables affected by the level of a professional learning community of the small-sized primary schools under the OEC. The samples were selected by a Purposive sampling method from 80 small elementary schools with less than 120 students in each school in Chai Nat, Lopburi, Sing Buri, and Ang Thong in the academic year 2018. The questionnaires were analyzed using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation, the discrimination was between 0.24-0.94, and the reliability was analyzed using Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient between 0.83-0.98. The statistical methods used were average, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, and Path Analysis (PA).

The results showed that: 1) small-sized primary schools had a high level of a professional learning community, but these characteristics of the schools were slightly different; 2) the level of the variables that affected the level of a professional learning community of small-sized primary schools found that; (2.1) teachers had a high level of self-development; (2.2) teachers had a high level of responsibility; (2.3) teachers had a high level of achievement motivation; (2.4) the school director had cognitive skills to solve problems at a moderate level; (2.5) the school director had a high level of academic leadership; and 3) being a professional learning community of small-sized primary schools was directly influenced by the level of teachers self-development and the level of teachers achievement motivation. These two variables explain the variability of the level of professional learning community in small-sized primary schools by 38.00% (R2 = 0.38) with a statistically significant level of .01 and indirectly influenced by the level of teachers’ achievement motivation. The level of cognitive skills to solve problems was through the level of self-development of the school director.