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The work of high school teaching teams is complex and often contradictory. Even in the best teams, hierarchies emerge, tendencies toward individualism persist, and genuine agreement can be elusive. In recent research on teachers' professional communities, WCER researcher Bruce King and teacher/colleague John Gunn found that a strong, schoolwide professional community consists of:

1. a clear shared purpose for student learning;
2. collective understanding of, and responsibility for, instructional practice to achieve learning goals;
3. professional inquiry by staff members to address the challenges they face; and
4. opportunities for staff members to influence the school's activities and policies.

The experience of successful, democratically run teacher teams can offer an alternative model for school governance to the one currently in ascendance, which emphasizes centralized control through national or state curriculum standards, testing, and accountability requirements. For more information, contact King at mbking1@wisc.edu.