The Tension Between Organisational Sub-structures in Secondary Schools and Educational Reform

In Dutch secondary schools the recent trend has been to replace the two existing sub-structures of subject departments and student guidance units by one system of integrated and decentralised teams. The aim of this article is to gain more insight into how secondary schools can provide supportive working contexts in which teacher learning is promoted. The first question is whether the foci of these two sub-structures can reach a balance in integrated teams. The second question concerns how much weight should be given to the integration of these two sub-structures when the school as a context for teacher learning is central. These questions are answered in three steps. Firstly, the tension between the two sub-structures and their contribution to professional development and school improvement is analysed. Secondly, recent insights into teachers' professional communities and organisational learning in schools are summarised. In the third part the potential for teachers' professional development of integrated and autonomous teams is discussed by means of these insights into the professional community.