"On Building Professional Community in Schools"

Conventional ideas of professional development (i.e., the “professionalization” of teachers’ work) claim the individual teacher should learn teaching and management skills that will make them more effective in the classroom or in the governance of the institution.

Kruse, Louis, and Bryk argue that the school, not the individual, should be the focus of change. Empowerment of educators is good, they state; however, empowerment is effective at improving instruction and student success only when it’s embedded within a professional community.

Community enhances professionalism in a number of ways. First, community creates norms and enforces high standards of learning, instruction, and professional behavior (esp. obligation toward one another and toward one’s students). Second, community creates a stronger sense of motivation than mere compliance. And third, community creates structure for principled disagreement and discussion.

The authors list five elements that comprise strong professional communities (or, one might think of these as five signs that an educational institution has a strong professional community): (1) reflective dialogue occurs, (2) the practice of teaching is de-privatized (meaning, teachers don’t work solely as individuals; their work is outside of the silos we often encounter), (3) the focus of professional learning is on student learning, (4) collaboration is common, and (5) the institution exhibits shared norms and values (most likely centered on student learning).

Lastly, they say that structural conditions are important to creating professional community (e.g., conditions such as having enough time to meet and talk, or communication structures and protocols that encourage conversation and collaboration). However, they continue, human and social resources receive too little attention and are more important than structural conditions (e.g., resources such as trust and respect, supportive leadership, or a general openness to improvement).

This article provides a clear rationale for developing professional community, explains some of the signs of professional community, and describes many of the conditions and resources necessary for creating professional community.

citation: Sharon Kruse, Karen Seashore Louis, and Anthony Bryk. “Building Professional Community in Schools.” Issues in Restructuring Schools, Issue Report No. 6 (Spring 1994): 3-6.