Purpose: This article explores distributed leadership as it relates to two teacher teams in one public secondary school. Both situational and social aspects of distributed leadership are foci of investigation. Methods: The qualitative study used constant comparative analysis and discourse analysis to explore leadership as a distributed phenomenon.…

Case study of two urban high schools explores how, paradoxically, professional autonomy and attention to individual needs are necessary and salient conditions of strong professional communities. Focuses on the important role that principals play in balancing individual and organizational needs and fostering professional community. Reinterprets…

Case study of relationship between group dynamics and type of learning in summer-session student cohorts at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Discusses factors that influenced learning, such as group climate and group norms. Identifies several types of learning, such as reflective learning and transformative learning. Draws implications for…

Using an embedded case-study design, examines what factors motivate (high-school) teachers to engage in professional-development activities, how they experience professional learning, and how work context influences their learning experiences. A complex nesting of work contexts limits types of learning activities and knowledge available to…

Analyzes a school-improvement process's potential to foster professional community in three rural middle schools through organizational learning. Findings of a two-year qualitative case study reveal bureaucracy/community tensions and isolate four influential community-building factors: principal leadership, organizational history, organizational…