Building capacity for learning communities: schools that work

Abstract

Much has been written recently about the need for schools to be different from what they have been if they are to meet the challenges of the knowledge society (e.g., Hargreaves & Evans, 1997; Hargreaves, 2003; Mitchell & Sackney, 2000). The persistent calls for school reform have prompted growing support for schools to be viewed as learning communities (DuFour & Eaker; 1998; Harris, 2002; Huffman & Hipp, 2003; 1998; Mitchell & Sackney, 2000; Sergiovanni, 2000; Stoll, Fink & Earl, 2003). The ideas that underpin the learning community construct "are of wholeness and connections, diversity and complexity, relationships and meanings, reflection and inquiry, and collaboration and collegiality" (Mitchell & Sackney, p. 5).