Systems of Practice: How Leaders Use Artifacts to Create Professional Community in Schools

This article explores how local school leaders construct the conditions for professional community in their schools. This paper argues that professional community is a special form of social capital that results, in part, from the design and implementation of facilitating structural networks by inst...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Richard R. Halverson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Arizona State University 2003-10-01
Series:Education Policy Analysis Archives
Online Access:http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/265
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spelling doaj-dac408ea46ec4be0aec0aa2d1903872a2020-11-25T03:15:48ZengArizona State UniversityEducation Policy Analysis Archives1068-23412003-10-011137Systems of Practice: How Leaders Use Artifacts to Create Professional Community in SchoolsRichard R. HalversonThis article explores how local school leaders construct the conditions for professional community in their schools. This paper argues that professional community is a special form of social capital that results, in part, from the design and implementation of facilitating structural networks by instructional leaders in schools. The structural aspects of a school community can be conceived as a system of practice, that is, a network of structures, tasks and traditions that create and facilitate complex webs of practice in organizations. Systems of practice are composed of networks of artifacts, such as policies, programs and procedures, which can be seen as powerful tools used by local leaders to influence local instructional practices. The system of practice framework suggests that leaders use artifacts to establish structures that facilitate the closure of professional networks among teachers, which in turns builds professional community. The leadership practices of an urban elementary school are used to illustrate how professional community has been developed through the selective design and implementation of artifacts in order to reshape the local system of practice. http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/265
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Richard R. Halverson
spellingShingle Richard R. Halverson
Systems of Practice: How Leaders Use Artifacts to Create Professional Community in Schools
Education Policy Analysis Archives
author_facet Richard R. Halverson
author_sort Richard R. Halverson
title Systems of Practice: How Leaders Use Artifacts to Create Professional Community in Schools
title_short Systems of Practice: How Leaders Use Artifacts to Create Professional Community in Schools
title_full Systems of Practice: How Leaders Use Artifacts to Create Professional Community in Schools
title_fullStr Systems of Practice: How Leaders Use Artifacts to Create Professional Community in Schools
title_full_unstemmed Systems of Practice: How Leaders Use Artifacts to Create Professional Community in Schools
title_sort systems of practice: how leaders use artifacts to create professional community in schools
publisher Arizona State University
series Education Policy Analysis Archives
issn 1068-2341
publishDate 2003-10-01
description This article explores how local school leaders construct the conditions for professional community in their schools. This paper argues that professional community is a special form of social capital that results, in part, from the design and implementation of facilitating structural networks by instructional leaders in schools. The structural aspects of a school community can be conceived as a system of practice, that is, a network of structures, tasks and traditions that create and facilitate complex webs of practice in organizations. Systems of practice are composed of networks of artifacts, such as policies, programs and procedures, which can be seen as powerful tools used by local leaders to influence local instructional practices. The system of practice framework suggests that leaders use artifacts to establish structures that facilitate the closure of professional networks among teachers, which in turns builds professional community. The leadership practices of an urban elementary school are used to illustrate how professional community has been developed through the selective design and implementation of artifacts in order to reshape the local system of practice.
url http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/265
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