As the second part of the LeaFaP project, we conducted focus group and individual interviews with educators and student teachers experienced in leading or facilitating professionally oriented groups. These interviews complemented the literature review with insights from practice and informed the development of the project’s training programme. In the project, a leader is an internal member of the group, while a facilitator is an external person who supports the group from outside.
Purpose and Approach
The interviews gathered qualitative data on the roles, practices, challenges and needs of PLC leaders and facilitators, in order to ground the training programme in the lived experience of educators. They were conducted across Austria, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Norway and Spain and covered three participant groups: 37 facilitators, 27 school and faculty leaders, and 35 student teachers, working across educational levels from pre-primary to university.
Methodology
A shared interview protocol was developed collaboratively by the project team, refined through several rounds of review, translated into the national languages, and adapted to the three participant groups. All focus group and individual interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically along the topics of the protocol. Participation was voluntary and based on informed consent.
Conclusions and Implications
The interviews confirmed that the competencies required to lead and facilitate PLCs are complex and multifaceted, spanning knowledge, skills and attitudes. Many roles and challenges were shared across both positions, while others depended on the specific role – facilitators drawing on a strong understanding of the PLC itself, leaders on deeper knowledge of the school context and its improvement needs; the report also noted the potential tension when a leader holds a position of authority such as headteacher. Across all groups, the findings clustered into recurring dimensions – relational, collaborative, learning and knowledge-building, reflection and inquiry, communication, and organizational – which directly shaped the project’s conceptual framework, learning outcomes and activities.
The national reports and the consolidated international report are available as PDF downloads in the Results section of our website.