Professional Learning Communities for Enhancing Professional Capital and Improving Learning

Abstract Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) have emerged as effective frameworks that foster inclusive, collaborative, and resilient environments. These communities promote cooperation among teachers and build social and professional capital, essential for continuous improvement in education. It presented a study that exploring the current state of research on how Professional Learning Communities enhance professional capital to improve learning outcomes. A scoping review of the literature indexed in Web of Science and Scopus was conducted. The search identified 53 records. After removing duplicates and studies that did not meet the inclusion criteria, 43 papers were finally included in the review The findings highlight that research studies on Professional Learning Communities focus mainly on improving learning outcomes, and to a lesser extent, on inclusion and social justice. In addition, distributed and transformational leadership significantly influences educational outcomes. Also, when it comes to PLC, qualitative studies are most often employed. As well, effective organizational conditions are essential for building collaborative networks and improving effectiveness in PLC. How conclusions need to broaden professional interactions between school and community to achieve an increase in professional and social capital, as well as to build shared governance. In addition, mapping common purposes among all actors, decision-making capital, that makes up an educational ecosystem with more inclusive and collective approaches to achieve equitable and effective educational outcomes.