Teacher professionalism is fundamental to improving school quality. A call from the OECD for significant change in teachers' practice and development argues that education today demands "highlevel knowledge workers who constantly advance their own professional knowledge as well as that of their profession" (Istance and Vincent-Lancran, 2012, p36). Using evidence to find ways to enhance practice is an important feature of knowledge work. An expectation of collective responsibility also underlies this quote. Knowledge work has a collegial element-its purpose is not just for individual gain; it must enhance the profession as a whole. Systems internationally which sustain improvement are characterised by collaborative work and innovation (Mourshed et al, 2010), and a conclusion of TALIS 2013/14 (OECD, 2013) is that: "Countries could use professional development to effectively and efficiently build professional learning communities in schools". In this chapter, we begin by exploring the context for professional learning communities within England. Then, we describe three relevant national projects which team members have led and some key findings. Finally, we conclude with four messages drawn from the projects about impactful teacher leadership of change and improvement within and across professional learning communities. England's policy context for professional learning communities The landscape of England's school system has shifted quickly over the last few years. An increasing international emphasis on collaboration (eg Schleicher, 2015) and peer networking (OECD, 2016) is seen in England in its policy focus on partnership working between schools to develop what has been described as a 'self-improving school system' (Hargreaves, 2010)-schools supporting each other's improvement. This has its origins in earlier New Labour government policy initiatives (DfEE, 1997; DfES, 2005). The previous Coalition government's policy White Paper (DfE, 2010) paved the way for school autonomy-with a fast-growing autonomous system where over 60% of secondary schools and 15% of primary schools are now academies or free schools, out of local authority control and directly responsible to national government. This was aligned to the policy intention for schools increasingly to collaborate through academy chains and multi-school trusts and federations.
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