G5 Doctoral dissertation (article)
Building a school as a learning community : exploring the development of a unified comprehensive school in Finland (2024)
Koulun rakentaminen oppivana yhteisönä : yhtenäiskoulun kehittämisen tarkastelu Suomessa

Toikka, T. (2024). Building a school as a learning community : exploring the development of a unified comprehensive school in Finland [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Jyväskylä. JYU Dissertations, 847. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-86-0386-3

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Toikka, Teppo

eISBN: 978-952-86-0386-3

Journal or series: JYU Dissertations

eISSN: 2489-9003

Publication year: 2024

Number in series: 847

Number of pages in the book: 1 verkkoaineisto (113 sivua, 35 sivua useina numerointijaksoina, 3 numeroimatonta sivua)

Publisher: University of Jyväskylä

Place of Publication: Jyväskylä

Publication country: Finland

Publication language: English

Persistent website address: https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-86-0386-3

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Abstract

This doctoral study consists of three substudies that examine the development of a new comprehensive school as a learning community. The research investigates how the learning community development model presented in this dissertation supports the growth of primary and lower-secondary school teachers, principals, and teams toward a new unified comprehensive school. This study was conducted as a qualitative case study alongside the Creative Expertise project. Participants included teachers and principals from both primary and lower-secondary levels. In the first substudy, all classroom teachers, subject teachers, and special education teachers (N=41) were interviewed at the beginning of the school development process, while the second and third substudies involved interviews with the principals and teacher team leaders (N=7) of the school community at the conclusion of long-term developmental collaboration. The construction of the new school community is challenged by numerous factors stemming from both local and systemic traditions and practices that still persist in comprehensive schools. The findings emphasize the dialogue and discussion regarding collaborative working methods and their importance in anchoring the shared vision to the school’s daily practices and in supporting team learning in the school. Teachers’ expectations and readiness to work in development teams, along with the differing practices and operational methods of the two merging schools, were found to impact the development work of the unified school as a learning community. In addition, this research explores the background and continuity of comprehensive school development and the implications for the current challenges and opportunities in basic education development. The findings enhance our understanding of how the mental models of teachers in the school community, the shared vision of the merging schools, and team learning act as facilitators for school development.

Keywords: comprehensive school system; visions (prospects); development (active); learning organisation; teams; learning; collaborative learning; doctoral dissertations

Free keywords: learning community; unified comprehensive schools; mental models; shared vision; team learning

Contributing organizations

Related projects

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2024