Creating and Developing a Collaborative and Learning-Centred School Culture: Views of Estonian School Leaders

Abstract

The present study aims to analyse how school leaders perceive their activities in creating and developing a collaborative school culture that promotes the school learning process. The data were collected in semi-structured interviews with nine school leaders and analysed using thematic content analysis. The results revealed that only three of the school leaders focused on the shared values and shared leadership necessary for creating a systematic and analytic approach to organisational and teacher development. The school leaders understood the importance of leading the development of the learning process, but this did not take place as expected in practice. Organisational and teacher development seemed to be unsystematic or not based on the continuous monitoring of processes. The findings of our study indicate that development programmes for school leaders should concentrate more on shaping the views, knowledge and skills needed to develop a collaborative and learning-centred school culture.