Abstract

• The main purpose of this study was to study the professional learning communities and teachers’ collective efficacy at Basic Education High Schools, Thanlyin Township, Yangon Region. In this study, a total of 224 teachers from Basic Education High Schools, Thanlyin Township were selected to participate by using simple random sampling method. Mixed method (qualitative and quantitative) was used. Two sets of questionnaires: Professional learning communities (PLCs) Questionnaire adapted from Olivier, D.F., Hipp, K.K., & J.B. (2003) and Collective Efficacy (CE) Questionnaire developed by the review of literature were used in this study. The reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s alpha) of the instruments were 0.98 for PLCs and 0.96 for CE. For qualitative study, open-ended and interview questions were conducted. Descriptive statistics, Independent Samples t Test, One-way ANOVA, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation were used to analyze the data. According to the findings, teachers at Basic Education High Schools, Thanlyin Township practiced professional learning communities at high level. There were no significant differences in teachers’ practices on PLCs grouped by their age and teaching service. But, there were significant differences among teachers grouped by their position and educational qualification. Teachers in this study had high level of collective efficacy. Although there was no significant difference in teachers’ collective efficacy grouped by their age, there were significant differences among teachers grouped by their teaching service, position and educational qualification. There was a positively moderate correlation between professional learning communities and teachers’ collective efficacy (r=.567**, p=.000).