Enhancing Teachers’ Competency through School as Learning Communities and Psychological Capital to Foster Cultural Diversity in Students
Enhancing Teachers’ Competency through School as Learning Communities and Psychological Capital to Foster Cultural Diversity in Students

Summary/Abstract: Background/purpose. As urban classrooms in Thailand become increasingly multicultural due to migration and social change, teachers face growing challenges in fostering inclusion and cultural understanding among students. This study examined how the integration of the School as Learning Communities (SLC) model and Psychological Capital (PsyCap) can enhance teachers’ instructional competencies and promote students’ understanding of cultural diversity in Thailand’s urban school systems. Materials/methods. A sequential exploratory mixed methods design was employed. In Phase 1, qualitative data were collected from 20 teachers in Bangkok to co-develop a professional development program. Phase 2 involved a quasi-experimental study with 300 upper primary students to evaluate the program’s effectiveness. Results. Teachers’ instructional competencies significantly surpassed the quality benchmark across four dimensions: learning activity design, instructional delivery, media selection, and assessment. Students also demonstrated significant improvement in understanding cultural diversity across five dimensions: gender, ethnicity, religion, social class, and inclusion of individuals with special needs (Wilks’ Lambda = .28, F(5, 295) = 148.68, p < .001, η² = .72). Conclusion. The study highlights the potential of combining collaborative professional learning models with psychological empowerment to foster inclusive teaching practices. Limitations include the single urban context and reliance on self-reported teacher competencies, which may limit generalizability. Future research should extend to rural and cross-cultural settings with longitudinal follow-up. In practice, embedding PsyCap development within professional learning communities can support equity-driven instruction and inform teacher-training policies that advance inclusion in diverse classrooms worldwide.

• Details
• Contents