Leading with Vision in Vietnamese Education: How Transformational Leadership Shapes Professional Learning Communities Through the Lens of Female Educators

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between transformational leadership and Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) in Hanoi's public schools from the perspectives of female educators (school managers and teachers). Using stratified random sampling, data was collected via a questionnaire from 360 female participants (207 teachers, 141 vice-principals, 12 principals) across primary, secondary, and high schools. The research measured transformational leadership through three dimensions: Setting Direction (SD), Developing People (DP), and Restructuring Organization (RO), alongside PLC effectiveness using the PLCA-R instrument. Statistical analysis revealed high reliability across all scales (Cronbach's Alpha 0.891-0.937). Exploratory factor analysis confirmed the model's validity with KMO indices exceeding 0.9 and cumulative variance above 76% for independent and dependent variables. Pearson correlation analysis showed significant positive relationships between all transformational leadership dimensions and PLC effectiveness. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the three leadership dimensions explained 82% of PLC variance, with RO having the most substantial impact, followed by SD and DP. These findings highlight the crucial role of transformational leadership, particularly organizational restructuring, in enhancing professional learning communities within Vietnamese educational settings.

Keywords

• Female school manager
• Female teacher
• Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)
• Transformational Leadership

References

1. Abdullah, A. G. K., Ling, Y.-L., & Sufi, S. B. (2018). Principal Transformational Leadership and Teachers’ Motivation. Asian Education Studies, 3(1), 36. https://doi.org/10.20849/aes.v3i1.316
2. Abendaño, D. O. (2024). Patterns of Relationships Between College Teachers’ Leadership Competence and Work Engagement in Selected Private Higher Education Institutions in Davao Region: The Mediating Impact of School as Professional Learning Community. European Journal of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, 2(1), 660–672. https://doi.org/10.59324/ejtas.2024.2(1).57
3. Admiraal, W., Schenke, W., De Jong, L., Emmelot, Y., & Sligte, H. (2021). Schools as professional learning communities: what can schools do to support professional development of their teachers? Professional Development in Education, 47(4), 1–15.
4. Alzayed, Z. A., & Alabdulkareem, R. H. (2020). Enhancing cognitive presence in teachers’ professional learning communities via reflective practice. Journal of Education for Teaching, 47(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2020.1842134
5. Avolio, B. J., & Bass, B. M. (1991). The Full Range Leadership Development Programs: Basic and Advanced Manuals. Bass, Avolio Associates.
6. Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations. Free Press.
7. Benoliel, P., & Schechter, C. (2017). Is it personal? Teacher’s personality and the principal’s role in professional learning communities. Improving Schools, 20(3), 222–235. https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480217703725
8. Boyd, V., & Hord, S. M. (1994). Principals and the new paradigm: Schools as learning communities. Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans.

9. Brislin, R. W. (1970). Back-Translation for Cross-Cultural Research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1(3), 185–216. https://doi.org/10.1177/135910457000100301
10. Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. Harper and Row.
11. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
12. Day, C., Gu, Q., & Sammons, P. (2016). The impact of leadership on student outcomes: How successful school leaders use transformational and instructional strategies to make a difference. Educational Administration Quarterly, 52(2), 221–258. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X15616869
13. Doan, N. L., & Pham, T. T. H. (2022). Building professional learning communities in general schools in the context of implementing the 2018 general education program. Education Magazine, 22(6), 31–36.
14. Eaker, R. E., Dufour, R., & Rebecca Burnette Dufour. (2002). Getting started : reculturing schools to become professional learning communities. Solution Tree Press.
15. Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Pearson.
16. Hallinger, P. (2003). Leading Educational Change: reflections on the practice of instructional and transformational leadership. Cambridge Journal of Education, 33(3), 329–352.
17. Hallinger, P., & Bryant, D. (2013). Mapping the terrain of educational leadership and management in East Asia. Journal of Educational Administration, 51(5), 618–637. https://doi.org/10.1108/jea-05-2012-0066
18. Hallinger, P., & Heck, R. H. (2010). Collaborative leadership and school improvement: understanding the impact on school capacity and student learning. School Leadership & Management, 30(2), 95–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632431003663214
19. Hong, N. V., Yen, D. T. H., Ly, N. T., Huyen, N. P., & Duong, N. T. (2024). Developing A Learning Community Model To Enhance Teachers’ Professional Capacity. Educational Administration: Theory and Practice, 30(4), 757–764. https://doi.org/10.53555/kuey.v30i4.1909
20. Hong-Van Thi Dinh, Quynh Anh, Ngoc Hai Tran, Thi, L.-H., Hung Thanh Nguyen, Minh, L., & Bao-Phan Phung-Dinh. (2023). Professional Learning Communities in Vietnamese Primary Schools in the Educational Reform Context: Forms and Challenges. 12(1), 551–565. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.12.1.551
21. Hong-Van Thi Dinh, & To-Trinh Thi Tran. (2024). Characteristics of professional learning communities in secondary schools in Dong Ha city, Quang Tri province. Education Magazine, 24(3), 42–47.
22. Hord, S. M. (1997). Professional learning communities : communities of continuous inquiry and improvement. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.
23. Hudson, C. (2023). A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Effective Professional Learning Community (PLC) Operation in Schools. Journal of Education, 204(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/00220574231197364
24. Jabeen, A., Khan, S., & Zia-u Islam, S. (2019). Impact of Leadership Styles Upon Professional Commitment. Global Regional Review, IV(III), 325–336. https://doi.org/10.31703/10.31703/grr.2019(iv-iii).37
25. Krabonja, M. V., Kustec, S., Skrbinjek, V., Aberšek, B., & Andrej Flogie. (2024). Innovative Professional Learning Communities and Sustainable Education Practices through Digital Transformation. Sustainability, 16(14), 6250–6250. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16146250
26. Lee, D. H. L., & Ip, N. K. K. (2021). The influence of professional learning communities on informal teacher leadership in a Chinese hierarchical school context. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 51(2), 174114322098515. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143220985159
27. Leithwood, K. (1994). Leadership for School Restructuring. Educational Administration Quarterly, 30(4), 498–518. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161x94030004006
28. Leithwood, K., & Jantzi, D. (2006). Transformational school leadership for large-scale reform: Effects on students, teachers, and their classroom practices. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 17(2), 201–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243450600565829
29. Leithwood, K., & Jantzi, D. (2008). Linking Leadership to Student Learning: The Contributions of Leader Efficacy. Educational Administration Quarterly, 44(4), 496–528. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161x08321501
30. Leithwood, K., & Sun, J. (2012). The Nature and Effects of Transformational School Leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 48(3), 387–423. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161x11436268
31. Linh, D. N., & Kasule, G. W. (2022). Status of professional learning communities in developing countries: Case of Vietnam and Uganda. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE), 11(1), 61. https://doi.org/10.11591/ijere.v11i1.21717
32. Litz, D., & Scott, S. (2016). Transformational leadership in the educational system of the United Arab Emirates. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 45(4), 566–587. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143216636112
33. Marks, H. M., & Printy, S. M. (2003). Principal Leadership and School Performance: An Integration of Transformational and Instructional Leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 39(3), 370–397. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161x03253412
34. Minckler, C. H. (2013). School leadership that builds teacher social capital. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 42(5), 657–679. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143213510502
35. Nguyen , T. L., & Nguyen, V. H. (2025). Effects of professional learning communities on job satisfaction of female teachers in Vietnam. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE), 14(1), 85–93. doi: 10.11591/ijere.v14i1.30232
36. Nguyen, T. K. D. (2019). Measures to develop the professional capacity of high school teachers according to the method of organizing learning communities in schools. Hanoi National University of Education Journal of Science, 64(3), 28–37.
37. Ogden, S. B. (2017). Becoming an Educational Leader for Social Justice: A Micro/Meso/Macro Examination of a Southern U.S. Principal. Research in Educational Administration & Leadership, 2(1), 54–76. https://doi.org/10.30828/real/2017.1.4
38. Olivier, D. F., Hipp, K. K., & Huffman, J. B. (2010). Assessing and analyzing schools. In Demystifying professional learning communities: School leadership at its best.
39. Phan, Q. N. (2017). Professional learning communities: learning sites for primary school English language teachers in Vietnam. [The thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences School of Education University of Technology Sydney].
40. Saito, E., & Tsukui, A. (2008). Challenging common sense: Cases of school reform for learning community under an international cooperation project in Bac Giang Province, Vietnam. International Journal of Educational Development, 28(5), 571–584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2007.12.006
41. Stewart, J. (2006). Transformational Leadership: An Evolving Concept Examined through the Works of Burns, Bass, Avolio, and Leithwood. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 54, 1–29. https://cdm.ucalgary.ca/index.php/cjeap/article/view/42735/30595
42. Stoll, L., Bolam, R., McMahon, A., Wallace, M., & Thomas, S. (2006). Professional Learning Communities: A Review of the Literature. Journal of Educational Change, 7(4), 221–258.
43. Thien, L. M., Uthai, M., & Yeap, S. B. (2022). Does middle leaders’ learning-centred leadership matter in promoting teacher professional learning? A partial least squares analysis. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 174114322211155. https://doi.org/10.1177/17411432221115522
44. Valckx, J., Vanderlinde, R., & Devos, G. (2019). Departmental PLCs in secondary schools: The importance of transformational leadership, teacher autonomy, and teachers’ self-efficacy. Educational Studies, 46, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2019.1584851
45. Wang, T. (2016). School leadership and professional learning community: case study of two senior high schools in Northeast China. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 36, 202–216.
46. Zhang, J., Huang, Q., & Xu, J. (2022). The relationships among transformational leadership, professional learning communities and teachers’ job satisfaction in china: What do the principals think? Sustainability, 14, 2362. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14042362