Changing the Culture of Schools: Professional Community, Organizational Learning, and Trust

Abstract

The theme of this special issue of the Journal of School Leadership involves teachers’ professional learning communities. It is satisfying to see a major journal in educational leadership focus on a problem that was seen only dimly two decades ago. This contribution examines the antecedents and underlying research traditions that have culminated in the strong sense of urgency among scholars and practitioners to shift the focus of school reform away from restructuring and toward reculturing (Miller, 1998). In addition, it cautions against the hope that professional learning communities will become a temporary panacea for what ails the public schools and the even greater tendency to develop in professional learning communities interventions that can be implemented, such as a new reading curriculum.