Faglegt lærdómssamfélag og starfsánægja í leikskólum

The aim of the study was to shed light on the situation of a professional learning community within Icelandic preschools and its connection with the educational position and job satisfaction of staff, other than formal leaders. Numerous attempts have been made to capture the practices and characteristics of professional learning communities in educational settings (Hall & Hord, 2015; Huffman & Hipp, 2003; Stoll & Louis, 2007). In Iceland those efforts have mainly been aimed at the compulsory level (Anna Kristin Sigurðardottir, 2010; Berglind Gisladottir et al., 2019) but only rarely at the preschool level (Svava Bjorg Mork & Runar Sigþorsson, 2011). However, the ideology of a professional learning community is prominent in the National Curriculum Guide for Preschools in Iceland (Mennta- og menningarmalaraðuneytið [Ministry of Education and Culture], 2011). In this study a professional learning communities’ assessment questionnaire developed by Huffman and Hipp (2003) and later revised (Hipp and Huffman, 2010; Olivier and Hipp, 2010) (Professional Learning Community Assessment - PLCA) is adapted to the Icelandic preschool work-situation and used to assess the perception of preschool staff (other than formal leaders); preschool teachers, staff with other pedagogical education and staff without any pedagogical education relating to professional learning communities. The assessment tool consists of five dimensions of professional learning communities: shared and supportive leadership; shared values and vision; collective learning and its application; shared personal practices; and supportive conditions, divided into relationships and structures (Olivier and Hipp, 2010). Data was obtained by a survey. Within one municipality, seven preschools were contacted that identified themselves as working within the ideology of professional learning communities. Principals of five schools accepted participation on behalf of their staff and provided their e-mail addresses. A questionnaire was sent to the staff, followed up twice with an e-mail reminder and once with a phone call to the principals. The response rate was 54%. The results indicate that the staff experienced the characteristics of a professional learning community in considerable strength. Within the professional leadership communities’ dimensions shared values and vision had the highest score followed by collective learning and its application. In turn, shared and supportive leadership and shared personal practices followed, obtaining slightly lower scores. On the dimension Supportive conditions, relationships had rather high scores, but structure obtained significantly lower scores. However, the schools experienced these attributes somewhat differently. Three of the schools had a rather strong presence of professional learning communities but two of the schools were considerably weaker in that respect. It seems that educational resources and time for cooperation regarding professional work, especially concerning inquiry and reflection on educational matters, need to be improved, both within the schools and among school operators, the municipalities. Preschool teachers are more likely to experience a professional learning community than employees with a different pedagogical education, and much more likely than staff with no such education. Staff satisfaction grew with the increased feeling of professional learning communities and experiencing stronger characteristics of learning communities was associated with being less likely to be planning to leave the job. Within Icelandic preschools, at least 53% of employees are without pedagogical education (Hagstofa Islands [Statistics Iceland], n.d.) and the turnover rate is high (Hagstofa Islands, 2019). It can be concluded that strengthening a professional learning community is a way to improve job satisfaction and reduce staff turnover. It seems that more attention needs to be paid to building a culture that supports the characteristics of a professional learning community where all staff have more equal opportunities to contribute to the community and develop their potentials for the greater good of their students. Hopefully, these findings can contribute to the development of professional learning communities in preschools in Iceland by pointing out the importance of different elements of the professional learning community and their importance for job satisfaction at preschool level. Furthermore, we suggest that the study could serve as a basis for further research in this field.