Abstract:

In the past decades, the situative and socio-cultural perspective has deeply influenced the research on teacher learning, and teacher learning occurs in multiple and complex communities or systems. As a result of the high performance in international programs such as PISA, Chinese version of professional learning community (PLC) has gained much attention. This paper introduced a series of empirical studies that focused on teacher learning in multiple learning communities within Chinese cultures and contexts. These studies attempted to respond to three questions: how to build strong PLCs in Chinese context? is Chinese version of PLCs beneficial for teachers? how can the research on teacher learning in Chinese contexts contribute to the international knowledge community? The findings showed that teachers learning was influenced by Chinese cultures and contexts, which was different from the Western counterparts. However, the “others” perspective can help us to understand our own problems, to reflect and improve the educational practice. The unique contexts of teacher learning in China could also make knowledge contributions to the academic community through appropriate conversations.

Key words: culture, context, teacher learning, professional learning communities, empirical studies