Abstract:

This research examined change processes, interactions, and their outcomes regarding the operation of a professional learning community of leading science and technology teachers, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The research questions were:
(1) Did and how did the transition to remote operation during COVID-19 pandemic affect the manifestations of learning community characteristics
(a) at the level of the action model and the leading staff;
(b) at the level of the leading community participants?;
(2) How did the transition to remote operation during the COVID-19 epidemic affect the knowledge of the leading teachers - in terms of content knowledge (CK), and pedagogical content knowledge, (PK, PCK), and Technological pedagogical content knowledge TK, TPCK) - and their stages of professional development?;
(3) What was the impact of community activities on the participant activities at the school level and the regional level during the COVID-19 pandemic?.

Data collection tools included protocols and minutes of weekly meetings held by the facilitators, feedback questionnaire at the end of each community online meeting, a reflection questionnaire administered at the end of each semester, and about 6500 WhatsApp messages during four consecutive semesters (March 2019 - March 2021). Data analysis involved qualitative and quantitative approaches,encompassing three levels - the whole group (macro), subgroups within the whole community (meso), and individual (micro) profiles. Findings indicate that COVID-19 outbreak strengthened the development of high levels of community behaviors, and participants' perception of the community as providing a professional safety net in a reality of uncertainty. It also accelerated professional knowledge development processes, and developed a collaborative arsenal of distance learning and teaching activities.

Keywords:

Professional Learning Community (PLC), Teachers' professional development, COvid-19, Science education.