Page 28 - Mini-Module 7

Statement 3
Both school reculturing and school restructuring are
prerequisites of school revitalisation.
This study demonstrated that the reculturation of teachers’
professional identities from followers to leaders and from
knowledge keepers to collaborative learners (Gonzales, 2004) is
important to secure school capacity for improvement. One
participant in the study acknowledged that his leadership capacity
was limited without leadership modeling or collaborative learning.
What he had achieved in terms of professional relationship with
his colleagues was a type of contrived collegiality (Lam, Yim, &
Lam, 2002). There was a lack of mutual trust and regard for the
building of a collaborative culture, which made school
revitalisation difficult.
School reculturing has to be supported by school restructuring to
sustain the school revitalisation. Time constraints were considered
a major barrier for teachers to exercise leadership in schools.
Schools therefore need to make appropriate structural or
institutional changes, including the use of time, so that the school
invests heavily in professional learning and relationship building. In
this study, the common planning time gave teachers opportunities,
including time and space, to work, reflect, and learn together for
school improvement.

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