Schools as Learning Communities: Unpacking the Concept

Abstract

Because the term “learning community” has been used with increasing frequency to describe schools, this article synthesizes theoretical and empirical research to describe learning community as a construct. The overall purpose is to describe a viable lens through which schools can be viewed in a meaningful manner. First, a summary of the effective schools’ model is used to explain the evolution of learning communities. The construct is then described in terms of three broad dimensions: cognitive, affective, and ideological. A summary with suggestions for future research is provided.