Learning in Community: Small Group Leadership for Educational Change

Abstract

This article is elaborated around three key ideas: learning communities as agents of change, action research and transformation through conversation. All of them relate very strongly together and help bring about individual and group change. Learning communities are powerful forces of cultural transformation; they are considered an enclave for active learning and therefore an incubator of innovation. As they grow as a group through conversations, they develop both a collective language and knowledge. On the other side, action research can take place in learning communities. It's seen as an opportunity to test one's beliefs in practice and to bring new forms of educational practice into reality. The text describes the three larger statewide learning communities and explains how the university staff takes an important role in bringing about change through action research.