Team leadership: a theoretical study of essential characteristics of leadership factors within a professional learning community (PLC) as perceived by public school principals in western Pennsylvania.

Abstract

Teams function best when the leader is both an active member of the team and is recognized as the leader. Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are groups of co-workers learning together and sharing ideas for the organization's betterment. The PLC leader plays an essential role in managing the PLC members and guiding them through the PLC process. This study gathered data from principals who lead PLCs and gain their perspective of effective PLC leadership. A concentration will be on the leadership of the PLC. This study investigated if the essential characteristics of PLC leadership aligned with the transformational leadership characteristics. In this research study, each school principal completed the Multi-Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) to measure their transformational leadership traits. This tool is a self-rating questionnaire. Each school principal participated in a semi-structured interview with the researcher of this study. Current research on PLCs emphasizes the group mindset. This study will examine the leaders of PLCs and determine the essential qualities of PLC leadership. This study has identified five types of PLC leaders (a) safety agent PLC leader, (b) trust designer PLC leader, (c) community creator PLC leader, (d) anticipatory designer PLC leader (e) results-orientated PLC leader.