Systematic review on the implementation of professional learning communities (PLCs) among teachers

Abstract

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) have become an important school-based mechanism for strengthening teacher collaboration, continuous professional learning and sustainable school improvement. However, recent empirical evidence shows that PLC implementation remains inconsistent because leadership support, collaborative routines, teacher agency and institutional conditions vary across school contexts. This systematic literature review synthesises recent studies on PLC implementation among teachers. Guided by PRISMA 2020, searches were conducted in Scopus and Web of Science using terms related to Professional Learning Communities, teacher, school and collaboration. From 1,480 identified records, 29 primary studies published between 2023 and 2025 met the inclusion and quality-assessment criteria. The analysis produced three integrated themes: leadership and organisational support in PLC implementation; collaborative practices and teacher learning; and the impact of PLCs on teacher professionalism, collective efficacy and school development. The synthesis indicates that effective PLCs are not sustained by meetings alone, but by distributed leadership, protected collaboration time, sustained inquiry, evidence-informed reflection and trust-based professional culture. The findings also show a consistent positive association between PLC participation and teachers’ self-efficacy, instructional improvement and collaborative professionalism. Nevertheless, evidence on direct student achievement outcomes remains limited and often mediated by contextual factors such as school culture, leadership capacity, resource allocation and teacher workload. A supplementary bibliometric profile further shows that recent PLC research is concentrated around leadership, collaboration, teacher learning, professional growth and school improvement. This review contributes to PLC scholarship by clarifying implementation conditions, synthesising convergent and divergent findings, and identifying gaps requiring longitudinal, comparative and student-outcome-focused research.