Conflicting Views of School Community: The Dichotomy Between Administrators and Teachers

This project was the second phase of a two-phase study of teachers’ knowledge of community in an urban, private boys’ day school in Canada. The first phase examined a teacher’s perception of her classroom community, and this phase asked teachers and administrators in the same school about their perc...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: John Barnett, Gerald Fallon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Simon Fraser University 2007-01-01
Series:International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.sfu.ca/ijepl/index.php/ijepl/article/download/28/14
Description
Summary:This project was the second phase of a two-phase study of teachers’ knowledge of community in an urban, private boys’ day school in Canada. The first phase examined a teacher’s perception of her classroom community, and this phase asked teachers and administrators in the same school about their perceptions of school community. We found that the school created and implemented an organizational structure designed to foster and sustain a professional community. However, administrators and teachers conceptualized, understood, and experienced community in different ways. Administrators saw community as a management tool to generate support for the school’s objectives. Teachers experienced community as social support that served as a remedy for professional isolation. Neither group based its view on community as a capacity-building, reflective process leading to a generative professional community.
ISSN:1555-5062