An Exploratory Study on the Conceptual Factors of Local Education Community Sense

The purpose of this study is to explore the conceptual factors that constitute the sense of local education community. For the expansion and development of the local education community, it is important for teachers, who are key members, to have perceptions of the local education community. As for the conceptual factors of teachers' sense of local education community, six conceptual factors were extracted through prior research and consultation with experts: locality, sharing, identity, relationship, practicality, and learnability. A total of 50 survey questions were composed based on the extracted factors. Quota sampling was used to select 170 teachers from elementary, middle, and high schools in Busan as the subject of the survey. For data analysis, exploratory factor analysis and internal consistency (Cronbach's α) were calculated using SPSS WIN 28.0, and correlations were verified. It was confirmed that the main conceptual factors that constitute the sense of local education community recognized by teachers include four factors: 'locality', 'learnability', 'relationship', and 'collaboration'. Perception of the degree of implementation in each of the four areas of the conceptual factors of local education community sense showed that learnability was the highest, followed by locality, collaboration, and relationship. The results of this study can be used as practical data for developing a tool to measure teachers' sense of local education community and at the same time preparing school-local linked educations.