Professional Learning Communities in Malaysian Schools: A Contemporary Literature Review

Abstract

Most professional learning community or PLC studies were often conducted in the Western context. Hence, this literature review study aims to analyze PLC studies among primary and secondary schools in Malaysia between 2009 and 2018. The sources for the data collection process were obtained through searches on Google Scholar pages, Malaysian Citation Index (MyCite), and Scopus using the identified keywords, which are ‘professional learning community', ‘school', and ‘Malaysia'. As a result, 35 empirical studies on PLC have been identified based on the set criteria through published journal articles and seminar papers. A scoping review through a narrative synthesis of the selected literatures, there are five main themes; PLC research methodology, PLC characteristics, PLC practices, the role of higher learning institution researchers, and PLC issues. There have been positive developments in PLC in terms of research and practice. However, the amount of local PLC studies is scarce compared to the Western context. A more robust empirical research is needed to implement PLCs in Malaysia.