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2 references
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- Vol 6 PE: App E
- Vol 6 RE: Chapters 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, App A, App B, App D, App E
professional capitalhuman capitalsocial capitaldecisional capitalteacher collaborationprofessional judgementteacher inductioncollective responsibilityBook Evidence summaryAt a glance
Hargreaves and Fullan frame high-quality teaching as professional capital built from three interacting resources. Human capital is the knowledge, skill, judgement, and capability of individual teachers.
Key ideas
Social capital lies in relationships through which educators exchange expertise, challenge practice, and improve decisions. Decisional capital is the professional judgement developed through experience, reflection, evidence, and responsibility in complex situations. Investing only in talented individuals is insufficient when organisational conditions isolate them; collaboration without expertise or disciplined judgement can also reproduce weak practice. Systems should therefore recruit well, provide strong preparation and induction, create purposeful collaborative cultures, retain and develop teachers over time, and involve the profession in improvement. The authors contrast this investment strategy with a business-capital approach based on short training, scripts, surveillance, competition, and rapid turnover.
Why it matters
Professional capital is not protection from evidence or accountability. It combines collective responsibility, capable judgement, and continuous learning so educators can respond intelligently to varied learners rather than merely comply with externally packaged solutions.
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- Vol 6 PE: App E
- Vol 6 RE: Chapter 6
professional learning communitiescollective inquiryshared leadershipteacher collaborationshared instructional practicecontinuous improvementsupportive school conditionsReport Evidence summaryAt a glance
Hord reviews the idea of a professional learning community as a school staff that studies, plans, works, and acts collectively to improve learning for students and adults. Across the literature and school examples, five recurring attributes emerge: shared and supportive leadership, collective creativity and inquiry, shared values and vision, supportive conditions, and shared personal practice.
Key ideas
Such communities reduce teacher isolation, deepen professional knowledge, strengthen commitment to common purposes, distribute responsibility for students, and can support changes in classroom practice and student outcomes. They are not simply regularly scheduled meetings or congenial staff groups. Members examine evidence, question assumptions, learn together, test approaches, observe or discuss practice, and sustain improvement over time. Development depends on trust, time, communication, proximity, resources, leadership participation, and structures that enable joint work.
Why it matters
Hord describes an evolutionary process rather than a quick programme and acknowledges that much of the available evidence was descriptive. The report’s enduring contribution is a practical framework for distinguishing continuous collaborative inquiry from superficial collaboration and for planning conditions that help a learning community mature.
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Edition abbreviations
- TE
- Teacher Edition
- PE
- Practice Edition
- RE
- Research Edition
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