In a constantly changing educational environment, the ability of schools to innovate teaching practices is critical, as it enables students to acquire appropriate skills to meet future challenges. School leadership and Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) emerge as two central pillars to foster innovation in education. The recent study “Does the Professional Learning Community Intermediate the Effects of Principal’s Leadership on Teaching Innovation?” (Paletta & Alimehmeti, 2023) published in Management in Education explores how these two components can interact to promote educational change.
The research, conducted on a sample of 352 schools from five Italian regions, underscores the importance of two distinct leadership styles, both of which are critical to improving professional learning communities in schools, making them true engines of innovation within schools:
- Supportive leadership: This type of leadership focuses on creating a collaborative environment in which teachers feel supported and motivated to experiment with new teaching practices.
- Educational leadership: Here, school principals are directly involved in teaching activities, overseeing and directing the teaching strategies adopted by the faculty.
A key finding of the research concerns the varying impact of different capacities of PLCs on teaching innovation. Organizational capabilities, such as access to up-to-date teaching resources and effective communication among staff, were found to be the most influential in promoting innovation. Surprisingly, teachers’ personal and interpersonal skills, while important for school climate, were not found to be sufficient on their own to generate meaningful teaching innovation.
The study also revealed that secondary-level schools tend to have higher innovative practices than primary-level schools. This might suggest that structural and organizational differences between school levels influence the capacity for innovation.
Contrary to expectations, the school administrative environment did not show a significant impact on educational innovation. This result underscores the importance of focusing on factors more directly related to teaching practices and educational leadership.
These findings offer useful insights for school leaders and policy makers. To foster innovation in schools, it is crucial to invest in leadership that not only supports teachers professionally but is also actively involved in the teaching process. In addition, creating and sustaining professional learning communities with strong organizational skills is a crucial factor in adapting educational practices to the needs of contemporary society.
