Unpacking the dynamics of the school as a learning organization

To effectively meet the increasing demands of a constantly evolving environment, schools must adapt more rapidly than ever before. In response to these challenges, scholars and relevant organizations such as the OECD have increasingly advocated for redefining schools as “learning organizations”—a model that enhances institutional adaptability, fosters innovation, and improves student outcomes. The aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of schools as learning communities by examining a primary school in Serbia through an ethnographic case study. Over three months, the researcher engaged in fieldwork, collecting ethnographic notes, documents, and conducting semi-structured interviews with school stakeholders. The collected data were analyzed through the lenses of cultural-historical theory and principles of thematic analysis. The findings indicate that, in order to maintain its functioning as a learning organization, a school may focus on one or a few dimensions while temporarily neglecting others. Specifically, to uphold its mission and vision, which were previously established, the focus of the school community’s efforts at a given historical moment was placed on ensuring pedagogical leadership, while dimensions such as self-evaluation and professional development were neglected. Since the “learning organization” model implies parallel development across all dimensions, the hierarchical organization of dimensions observed in the findings is somewhat unexpected. Moreover, it was noted that the previous functioning of the school, the establishment of shared mission and vision, was what focusing on one dimension made possible. Insights from this study contribute to a more nuanced understanding of learning organizations and offer implications for theory and practice.