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Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School

Andy P. Hargreaves,

Michael Fullan

4.17 · Rating details · 294 ratings · 33 reviews

The future of learning depends absolutely on the future of teaching. In this latest and most important collaboration, Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan show how the quality of teaching is captured in a compelling new idea: the professional capital of every teacher working together in every school. Speaking out against policies that result in a teaching force that is inexperience ...more

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Hardcover, 220 pages

Published March 9th 2012 by Teachers College Press

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Jan 05, 2014 Michelle rated it really liked it

I was really keen to read this as Fullan and Hargreaves featured prominently in my own Masters work about 'Educational Change'. I was not disappointed. Easy to read and yet still thought provoking in its content. I loved their anecdotes and their collaborative writer's voice is engaging and charismatic. They inspire change and provide a road map for action. What more could you ask?

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Jul 27, 2017 MisterHobgoblin rated it it was amazing

Professional Capital is a highly readable text that makes the case for schools focusing on creating a dynamic learning culture for their own staff. The central thesis is that successful teachers build professional capital, and this is a function of human capital, social capital and decisional capital. In other words, great teachers have great subject knowledge and pedagogical skills, actively collaborate with colleagues to raise both their own professional practice and practice across the school Professional Capital is a highly readable text that makes the case for schools focusing on creating a dynamic learning culture for their own staff. The central thesis is that successful teachers build professional capital, and this is a function of human capital, social capital and decisional capital. In other words, great teachers have great subject knowledge and pedagogical skills, actively collaborate with colleagues to raise both their own professional practice and practice across the school; and have the autonomy to apply their knowledge and skills in a collaborative environment.

It is a simple and well argued case. There is no point in being a hero teacher – brilliant with his or her own classes – without giving support to colleagues and receiving their support in return. This is because students will be taught by multiple teachers over the course of their school career. Teacher variability is a problem and teachers should be empowered to even up that variability.

Hargreaves and Fullan argue against contrived collegiality – where school management or the education district imposes a model of forced collaboration. The school has to create a learning culture and that will happen slowly. It might be initiated by either the teachers or by the school leadership, but for it to work, both have to be active and willing participants. They argue against a compliance based approach, both to professional learning and to the teaching profession as a whole. Instead, when a school successfully creates a whole-school learning culture the peer pressure will compel weaker teachers to shape up or ship out.

This all sounds sensible, but if the text has a weakness it is in the implementation section. For all the careful argument in the earlier sections, the implementation falls into giving a list of homilies. Be yourself. Be a mindful teacher. Push and pull your peers. Surprise yourself. The reality is that schools exist in a political world that is often driven by an appetite for quick results, a return to basics and ever greater efficiencies. The text might have been stronger if it had contented itself with being a strong counter-argument to be deployed in resisting that business-capital type thinking. Because, the reality is that schools do not have full agency for their destinies and “being yourself” could be professional suicide if applied in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Nevertheless, an excellent and thought provoking read. ...more

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Apr 22, 2018 Mary Norell Hedenstrom rated it liked it

Favorite quote about politician's and the public's view of teachers:

Teachers were a big part of our lives, and many made a big impression on us - sometimes in a good way, but not always. These memories and feelings profoundly influence people's views about teaching today and what they want from it - to benefit their own children and to justify the taxes they pay for the children of other people...They also have an impact on those in high office who often design policies that try to r ...more

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Feb 24, 2019 Helena rated it really liked it · review of another edition

For a book within the existing framework of the school systems, misters Alan and Michael do push against the edges. I wish they had stepped outside that system as well, but who knows, perhaps they will in the future?

https://helenaroth.com/professional-c...

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Aug 08, 2018 Brenda rated it really liked it

Another part of the action plan that we need to put into place at NHS. Teachers we need to join together and lead from the side and/or behind to rebuild a professional, innovative staff culture. Much to think about and much inspiration to draw upon.

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Feb 20, 2019 Jeremy Ang rated it it was amazing

This book is a must read for any educator, from the classroom teacher to national policy makers.

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Jan 01, 2017 Darian Jones rated it it was ok

This group of authors seems to continue to recycle their own works with simple nuances in name changes. It is one thing to stand on the balcony and look into the work and an entirely different thing to have done the work any time recently. This edition or re-edit was frustrating in content and discussion in that they gloss over the root issues and the root challenges as if their new nomenclature and focus on same will move the needle around student achievement and fixing our schools. They talk a This group of authors seems to continue to recycle their own works with simple nuances in name changes. It is one thing to stand on the balcony and look into the work and an entirely different thing to have done the work any time recently. This edition or re-edit was frustrating in content and discussion in that they gloss over the root issues and the root challenges as if their new nomenclature and focus on same will move the needle around student achievement and fixing our schools. They talk about urban schools as if urban in Alberta Canada and Europe are the same as Chicago or Detroit; socio-economic status as if "race" plays no roll in the impact on schools. Black in Canada is not even Black in Hawaii as we learned the past 8 years, let alone black in the Delta of Mississippi. What is most frustrating for me is that these guys continue to write these books, other ed reformists continue to read these books and then change PD and direction and continue to miss the ball entirely. Yes some of these are fair strategies to find one lever to move achievement just a bit, but none of these nor any of these books I have read address the issues in a real way for all American urban schools to even begin to do this work. I understand they cannot peel the layers back in a real way around culture, race, and class, the history of enslavement, segregation, one-sided integration, jim crow, unequal funding, busing, a lack of black educators, voices, access, exposure, etc. - it is far easier to say, well one thing is let's address "fixing" teachers and even though they try to say this isn't about blaming teachers or educators, the use of these works in the wrong hands - as is often the case - is catastrophic. You know all you need to know about this book from the first chapter and hang on praying it will end soon. We need a new set of researchers with different windows into the work, who have done the work in this century at least, in one of the American urban settings and experienced some success.... otherwise, I want my money back. ...more

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Apr 06, 2015 Becca rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2015-reads

I heard one of the authors, Andy Hargreaves, speak last year, and he was insightful, witty, and fascinating - one of the best speakers I have ever heard on education. His book is similarly satisfying. Having been in the world of education for 8 years years now, and in some of the most dysfunctional school around, I've seen the best of intentions play out in idiotic, destructive, and sad ways. This book takes a refreshing global perspective on education - he's been researching what works in educa ...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Sean Kottke rated it it was amazing

Shelves: professional, 2013

An excellent work on change leadership and the peculiar organizational dynamics of schools, Professional Capital provides a concise critique of contemporary education reform efforts that follow a business model and proposes a three-way lens for understanding what drives excellence in teaching. The combination of human capital, social capital and decisional capital is not simple to nurture, and no single silver bullet will get any school there ... except for one: trust. I've been thinking that the essen ...more

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Aug 16, 2014 Joe rated it it was amazing

Shelves: teaching

I thought this book started very slowly but I'm glad I stuck with it. The authors make a convincing argument for investing not just in individual teachers (e.g., the bright kids who go into TFA) but in teaching as a profession. They show how we need to build social networks that will support teachers as they move from executing current best practices to innovating next practices.

As the director of a university writing program, this book reminds me that my job is to help teachers develop their own v ...more

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Sep 16, 2014 Chris Wejr rated it really liked it

This is an important read for educators looking to create real change that is driven by... educators. Policy makers are showing us over and over again that the business capital model of education reform does not work. Building up professional capital by creating the conditions for educators to grow together is the way to real educational change.

I really enjoyed the concepts, ideas, and strategies discussed in the book. I struggled with some of the examples used by the authors as I ha ...more

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Oct 04, 2013 Bea Elwood rated it liked it

I find it hard to review this book because it's hard to pinpoint what was so taxing about it to read. So much in here I totally agree with and when I decided to become a teacher it was in large part because I felt there was a disconnect between what "we" knew and how we were teaching. I loved that they referenced Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours essay (I talk about it all the time too) and I agree with the need to take action now, to stop talking and do. Maybe as a first year teacher I just found ...more

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Jul 01, 2014 Tara Brabazon rated it liked it

This is a solid book about the potential and challenges of teaching. While the word 'capital' is used in a cliched form throughout many discourses and disciplines, there is some currency to 'professional capital.'

Why do teachers succeed? Why do teachers fail? The answers to those questions are not often predictable or clearly revealed in the research literature. But by understanding the motivations and aspirations of teachers, then supportive environments and contexts can be construc ...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Dawn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: gradschool

One of the most inspiring books I have read about the power of teacher professional development and ground-up teacher movements to impact education in tremendous ways (as opposed to top-down initiatives that disempower teachers). Hargreaves and Fullan do an excellent job of providing international examples and it was a fascinating read. The case study of Ontario is particularly memorable and inspiring. As a teacher leader, this is one of the most important large-scale books I have read.

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Aug 26, 2012 Jessica rated it liked it · review of another edition

I'm kind of torn on whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. It's probably 3.5 in reality. I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn't do too much for me. I think the important pieces could really be communicated in the course of a long article. It felt like a lot of the book was filler just to have enough material to make a book. Also, there were more exclamation points in this book than anything else I've ever read, for reals.

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Jan 21, 2016 Spacek Kim rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The authors present a brief historical perspective on education and professionalism. They lead the reader to the evidence that portrays a strengthening of the profession. At the end of the book they provide action steps. Education reform cannot be sustained by young in experienced teachers. Teachers of all ages must be involved.

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Apr 03, 2014 Nancy rated it it was amazing

This follow up to their earlier book is exactly what we need in education. We need to make the change not those outside of education. With the support, professional development and collaboration time our teachers can be incredible. Now to figure out how to do this together . . .

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Jun 13, 2013 Phoebe rated it it was amazing

This would be a great book for teachers and school administrators to read within a professional learning community. Very good insights into how we can make our schools all they can be for our children.

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Jan 01, 2015 Sue rated it it was amazing

Absolutely the best book about education that I have read in years! This book even changed the direction of my dissertation after I read it. Hargreaves and Fullan recently won the Grawemeyer Award in Education for this book and their research. A must-read for all leaders in education!

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Oct 05, 2014 Julie Aquilina rated it really liked it

Shelves: teaching

Fascinating read. I highlighted way too much - oops. Human, social, decisional capital equals professional capital: the sweet spot of maximizing learning in our schools (key message of book). Still rolling this around in my brain a lot lately and what it actually looks and feels like in reality.

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Jun 09, 2013 Christy Valyou rated it it was amazing

This is such an inspirational book and a must-read for any educator or leader. Full of many powerful ideas to help school systems transform teaching and learning in lasting ways.

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