Creating Professional Communities in Schools through Organizational Learning: An Evaluation of a School Improvement Process

This article presents an analysis of the potential for a school improvement process to foster professional community in three rural middle schools through the processes of organizational learning. The findings of this 2-year qualitative case study demonstrate the tensions schools must negotiate between bureaucracy and professional community and suggest that four organizational factors influence the establishment of professional community: principal leadership, organizational history, organizational priorities, and organization of teacher work. The findings further suggest that double-loop learning is invaluable to sustain professional community.