The experience of a professional community: teachers developing a new image of themselves and their workplace

This paper presents a study of a secondary school in Queensland, Australia, involved in an innovative change process called IDEAS (Innovative Design for Enhancing Achievement in Schools). This process of change centres on the action of teachers in classrooms rather than change in organizational structures. Our main findings illustrate how a group of teachers created a professional community through their participation in the process. We found that shared understanding developed through professional learning can impact on action in the classroom. However, the sustainability of this action within the organization will depend on the established professional community's ability to create a broader 'school-wide' understanding of these new relationships. It will also require developing a new image of teacher and student and their workplace. Through their development of this image, the teachers are in the process of creating a school for students of the twenty-first century, in line with their vision.