Examining the Relationship Between Professional Learning Communities and Teacher Hope

Hope carries a connotation of non-cognitive emotions. However, as part of positive psychology, hope is a cognitive process. It is a learned way of thinking that embodies goal setting, motivational agency, and finding multiple pathways around obstacles in pursuit of the goal. Individuals who are considered high-hope enjoy greater successes. As a school improvement model, many public schools promote Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to change school culture. The basic function of a PLC involves teacher teams identifying a goal related to student learning and then devising and implementing plans to reach those goals. Therefore, the hypothesis of this quantitative study is that PLCs who function with higher fidelity to PLC practices purported by professional literature will correlate with high measures of hope among the teachers who work in such an environment. The results of this study may help school administrators identify strategies that result in a more hopeful teaching staff