Community, reflection and the shared governance of schools

I point to the need for group reflection by teachers, a need that exists especially if their schools begin to involve them in management and governance. Administrative arrangements are, viewed, not as neutral and ahistorical, but as interconnected with people and their histories. Efforts at 'social self-reflection' in preservice and inservice are described and include a case study where social self-reflection highlights the advantages of a successful match between a new teacher's personal integrity and her professional setting. Obstacles to such reflection are considered, as well as the potentially positive contributions of heterogeneous settings. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.