ABSTRACT
Most discussions of the principalship and school leadership pay little attention to the nature of the teacher work group in schools and its implications for the principal and other school leaders who aspire to successfully lead and improve a school. Although there are groups to which teachers belong that are not associated directly with their daily work in a professional sense, the teacher work group at the school is of great significance for most teachers. Value leadership can be a critical stimulus to the teacher work group in its efforts to develop such a school-based professional community. By contrast, norms that support a more interdependent, interactive, and professionally collegial and collaborative teacher work group are found in more effective schools. One strategy to consider is the potential of introducing and developing one or several new norms within the teacher work group.
