The Role of Literacy Work Circles in Developing Professional Community

Abstract

To address teacher isolation in schools, more reform leaders are finding hope in establishing professional communities as a way to promote continuous school improvement. At the same time, adolescent literacy has been identified as a crucial area to address in the middle and upper grades as part of the reform agenda. Using the characteristics of professional community created by Kruse, Louis & Bryk (1995), we describe the development of professional community of sixth grade middle school teachers implementing literacy strategies across their content areas through a work circle. This particular work suggests that the introduction of a long-term instructional topic, in this case literacy, may contribute to the development of professional community.