Communities and Consequences: An Inquiry Into Ideology and Practice in Teachers Professional Work

This article challenges vague and underconceptualized notions of teacher professional community prevalent in both the theoretical and policy-oriented reform literatures. The findings from a close examination of two schoolsʹ teacher professional communities suggest that current models obscure significant differences in beliefs and practices. Whereas one schoolʹs professional community emphasizes teachersʹ individual autonomy, rights, and responsibilities to colleagues, the otherʹs is driven by a strong collective mission. A provisional model for examining teacher professional communities, which distinguishes between liberal and collective commitments, is presented.