Professional learning communities (PLC) are considered a rich environment for teacher professional development. Through a cross-case longitudinal analysis, using questionnaires, interviews and observations, we explored the effect of school context factors on the development of seven PLCs in Dutch secondary education. The study revealed the importance of a pro-active, stimulating role of the school leader, the presence of collective autonomy and skilled facilitators, the quality of the discourse and the degree of organisation and structure of meetings for PLC development. Sufficient time and space was considered indispensable by all PLCs. The findings of this study confirm and extend current knowledge on how to stimulate PLC development. Recommendations to foster PLC development were formulated providing guidelines for those involved in the implementation, development and sustainability of PLCs in schools.

专业学习社区（PLC）被认为是教师专业发展的丰富环境。通过跨案例纵向分析，利用问卷、访谈和观察，我们探讨了学校环境因素对荷兰中等教育中七个 PLC 发展的影响。该研究揭示了学校领导者积极主动、激励作用、集体自治和熟练协调员的存在、讨论的质量以及会议的组织程度和结构对于 PLC 发展的重要性。所有PLC都认为充足的时间和空间是必不可少的。这项研究的结果证实并扩展了当前关于如何刺激 PLC 发展的知识。