Teacher Development through Coaching and Mentoring Processes Combined with the Creation of Professional Learning Communities to Enhance Early Childhood Teachers’ Competence in Learning Activity Management and Classroom Research in Small Primary Schools

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the fundamental needs related to learning development among early childhood learners in small primary schools participating in the Digital Community Project. It also sought to investigate teachers’ competencies in organizing learning activities and conducting classroom research, as well as to study the outcomes of their learning activity management and their satisfaction with the teacher development process through coaching, mentoring, and the establishment of
a professional learning community. The research was conducted at Ban Chai Thale Khok Kham Mittrapap 95 School in three phases: before coaching, during coaching, and after coaching. The participants consisted of two early childhood teachers and eighteen kindergarten students (K2–K3). The research instruments included a learning exchange record form, a learning activity competency assessment form, an executive function (EF) skills assessment, a classroom research assessment form, AI-generated story clips, and a satisfaction questionnaire. The assessments and questionnaire demonstrated content validity, with item–objective congruence (IOC) values ranging from 0.67 to 1.00. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, percentage, and relative gain scores.

              The findings revealed that teachers required training related to conducting classroom research to enhance students’ executive function (EF) skills through learning activities supported by AI story media. After the teacher development process, teachers’ competencies in organizing learning activities were found to be at a very high level. Students demonstrated improvements in all EF domains by 100 percent, with relative development levels ranging from moderate to very high. Teachers’ classroom research competencies were at a high level, and they expressed the highest level of satisfaction with the coaching, mentoring, and professional learning community processes.