Philippine E-Journals

This paper investigates a group of in-service elementary English teachers’ learning to do action research when they were involved in a professional learning community. It explores to what extent action research is an effective approach in relation to teachers’ professional development, and how a teachers’ learning community can contribute to teachers’ development. The research data includes interviews with each teacher, teachers’ reflective journal, discussion data from this research group, and teachers’ action research papers. Data were collected over two semesters. The study validates teachers’ action research as a way to assist teachers in understanding their practice and improving student achievement, and finds that a professional learning community serves as an effective platform for teachers to exchange knowledge, to interact, and to learn from one another based on their practices. The results of this study fill the gap in research that discusses the outcomes of teachers’ endeavors on teaching practice and student learning.