Taking stock of the research into professional learning communities: Paradigms, pathways, and possibilities

This narrative literature review conceptualizes how professional learning communities (PLCs) have been researched via the three paradigms of inquiry proposed by Jurgen Habermas. We first briefly introduce the existing PLC research and then discuss the need for a narrative review through a paradigmatic lens. Next, we outline the characteristics and pathways of the three paradigms that structure our conceptual lens, namely empirical-analytical inquiry, hermeneutic inquiry, and critical inquiry. We then review and critique the existing PLC research from these three paradigms of inquiry to reveal their strengths and shortcomings. Finally, the implications and possibilities for future research are discussed.