Educators tend to throw the term "community" around quite flippantly, says researcher Sam Wineburg. While we hear of school community, learning community, teacher community, professional community, or communities of practice, "We often assign the term when there is no semblance of community life taking place." What distinguishes a community of teachers from a group of teachers sitting in a room for a meeting? Wineburg and his colleagues Pamela Grossman and Stephen Woolworth explore this question in their paper, "What Makes Teacher Community Different from a Gathering of Teachers?". They draw on their experience with a professional development project to propose a model for studying the formation and development of teacher community. It's a highly engaging but lengthy paper--if you have limited time to read it, you might begin on page 44 with the section "Toward Community," or on page 49 with "Why Care about Community?" (276k PDF file)
Grossman, P. & Wineburg, S. (2001). What makes a teacher community different from a gathering of teachers? Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy/Center of English Learning & Achievement. Retrived from Washington University 12 May 2008. http://depts.washington.edu/ctpmail/PDFs/Community-GWW-01-2001.pdf
}, URL = {http://depts.washington.edu/ctpmail/PDFs/Community-GWW-01-2001.pdf}, author = {Paul Grossman and Sam Wineburg} }