District-Wide Transformation Using Intentional Learning Communities

Abstract

This chapter details a rural cooperative school district's eight-year journey to transform its professional culture using intentional learning communities as a cornerstone framework. The district study began with professional learning communities and then, with the support of a dedicated assistant superintendent and ongoing coaching, invested time and resources to dramatically shift the professional learning culture to be collaborative and reflective. Their process is detailed before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and evidence of how their culture shifted is shared using a transformational learning framework created by the authors.