Empowering Student Engagement: A Case Study of Transforming Schools Through Professional Learning Communities

Abstract

Interest in studying student engagement arises from its predictive role in school success and its potential to address various classroom-related educational issues, such as school failure, low achievement, high dropout rates and student alienation. This article presents a case study set in a challenging Spanish school environment that actively promotes student engagement in learning. The study's goal is to gain a contextual understanding of educational change, exploring the school's educational project development, its journey as a professional learning community, and the foundational elements underpinning such engagement. The findings highlight the pivotal role of curriculum and middle management leadership, shifts in teaching methodologies, the cultivation of collaborative professionalism, the enhancement of professional capital and the establishment of supportive structures and dynamics for student engagement. Moreover, this research suggests that the school's achievements are the outcome of a prolonged and intricate process of institutional development led by effective leadership.