Towards a learning community : the journey of a Maltese Catholic Church school

Abstract

Today, more than ever before, we do appreciate that building a community of learners is essential to any school reform effort. Various national and international documents (e.g. NCTAF, 2003; MEYE, 2005) argue that in order to adequately prepare our children to become productive citizens in democratic societies we need leaders who are committed to continuous school-wide learning and growing. Building vital professional learning communities in schools challenges the leader to perform a multitude of complex roles involving all stakeholders in the pursuit of learning. Personal experience in a number of schools has shown that while increased collaboration among teachers is a long, arduous and tortuous journey (Bezzina, 2006a), it can be a powerful and ‘cathartic vehicle for positive change and development’ (Holden, 2002: 7).This paper presents a theoretical rationale for a teacher-led approach to school improvement and explores the initial collaboration between the author and a headteacher of a Catholic Church school. It presents the main findings of a strategic analysis undertaken to understand the current situations facing the school.This case study helps to highlight the importance and positive effects behind perseverance, capacity-building and distributed forms of leadership.