Introduction: Why a Culture of Inquiry Matters
Sustainable school improvement does not emerge from policy documents alone; it grows out of a living, questioning culture within the School Board itself. Jackie Delong’s five-year study as a Superintendent of Schools demonstrates that when leaders embrace inquiry as a way of being rather than a one-off project, they create the conditions for deeper learning, professional growth, and authentic transformation across a school system.
Central to Delong’s work is the idea of living educational theory: the ongoing creation of personal, evidence-informed theories of practice grounded in real professional experience and tested in daily work. This approach reframes improvement from something done to educators into something created with them, through disciplined reflection, collaboration, and shared values.
Understanding Living Educational Theory in a School Board Context
Living educational theory positions each educator and leader as a researcher of their own practice. Rather than relying solely on external theories, practitioners generate their own explanations for how and why their actions contribute to improved learning and well-being for students and colleagues.
In a School Board context, this means:
- Leaders inquire into their own decisions—policies, resource allocations, and leadership styles—using evidence from classrooms and schools.
- Teachers are supported as practitioner-researchers who examine their impact, share insights, and refine their practice over time.
- System-wide conversations shift from compliance and accountability to shared learning, values, and ethical responsibility.
Delong’s doctoral journey highlights how this approach can move a School Board from a static, top-down structure toward a dynamic learning community where everyone is both a learner and a contributor to knowledge.
The Core Principles of a Culture of Inquiry
A culture of inquiry is not an abstract ideal; it is built through specific practices and principles that shape daily interactions. Drawing on Delong’s work, several key features stand out.
1. Values-Led Leadership
Inquiry begins with clarity about values. Delong foregrounded values such as respect, care, trust, and social justice, then used them as living standards of judgment to evaluate her own leadership practice.
For a School Board, this involves:
- Making core values explicit and visible in decision-making processes.
- Inviting staff to hold leaders accountable to those values.
- Using values as criteria to assess whether new initiatives genuinely serve students and communities.
2. Systemic Support for Practitioner Inquiry
A culture of inquiry flourishes when teachers and leaders have the time, tools, and encouragement to investigate questions that matter to them. Delong’s leadership emphasized creating structures that empowered educators to conduct and share their own research.
School Boards can enact this by:
- Allocating dedicated time for collaborative inquiry and reflection.
- Recognizing and celebrating practitioner research as a legitimate form of professional learning.
- Providing facilitation, resources, and access to research methods that are practical and context-sensitive.
3. Dialogue, Narrative, and Shared Meaning
Delong’s work shows that storytelling and dialogue are powerful vehicles for inquiry. Educators’ narratives of success, struggle, and learning become data that can be examined collectively.
In a School Board culture of inquiry:
- Meetings move beyond reports and statistics to include reflective conversations about lived experiences.
- Personal accounts of change help others see what is possible in their own contexts.
- Shared narratives build a sense of identity as a learning organization rather than a bureaucratic structure.
4. Evidence-Informed, Not Evidence-Driven
Inquiry respects both quantitative and qualitative evidence. Delong’s approach integrates data such as student outcomes with more nuanced evidence—videos of practice, teacher journals, student feedback, and collaborative analyses.
A balanced culture of inquiry:
- Uses evidence to inform reflection and next steps, not to punish or constrain.
- Values context, relationships, and ethical considerations alongside performance indicators.
- Recognizes that improvement is a developmental process, not a simple set of targets.
From Supervision to Co-Learning: Redefining the Superintendent’s Role
Delong’s central research question—“How can I improve my practice as a Superintendent of Schools and create my own living educational theory?”—reframes the role of Superintendent from overseer to co-learner. Instead of positioning herself as the one with answers, she engaged as a partner in inquiry.
This shift involves concrete changes in leadership practice:
- Modeling vulnerability by openly examining one’s assumptions and mistakes.
- Inviting critique from principals, teachers, and students, seeing feedback as essential data.
- Sharing in the uncertainty of innovation rather than insisting on pre-packaged solutions.
When senior leaders embrace inquiry as a personal discipline, they legitimize similar practices throughout the system. The Superintendent’s role becomes catalytic: enabling others to generate and test their own theories of educational improvement.
Practical Strategies for Building a Culture of Inquiry in a School Board
Translating these ideas into action requires intentional design. The following strategies, inspired by Delong’s long-term work, can help School Boards nurture a resilient culture of inquiry.
1. Establish Inquiry-Focused Professional Learning Communities
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) can move beyond sharing resources to become sites of disciplined inquiry. Groups of educators collaboratively define questions, collect evidence, test interventions, and reflect on impact.
Effective PLCs in a culture of inquiry:
- Begin with values and shared purposes before selecting strategies.
- Use cycles of inquiry (plan–act–observe–reflect) grounded in real classroom and school data.
- Create public artifacts of learning—reports, presentations, or portfolios—that contribute to system knowledge.
2. Integrate Reflective Inquiry into Performance Processes
Traditional evaluation systems can feel hierarchical and compliance-driven. A culture of inquiry recasts performance processes as mutual learning opportunities.
This can include:
- Asking leaders and teachers to formulate their own inquiry questions as part of annual goals.
- Using mid-year and year-end conversations to discuss emerging learning, surprises, and revised theories of practice.
- Valuing thoughtful reflection and documented learning as evidence of professional effectiveness.
3. Make Research Visible and Shareable Across the System
For inquiry to shape culture, individual learning must become collective learning. Delong’s work illustrates the power of publishing, presenting, and archiving practitioner research to build a living knowledge base within the Board.
School Boards can:
- Host regular showcases where educators present their inquiries and findings.
- Curate digital or physical spaces where reports, case studies, and reflective narratives are accessible.
- Encourage cross-school study groups that explore each other’s inquiries and adapt ideas to new contexts.
4. Support Leadership Development Through Inquiry Projects
Future principals, consultants, and central office leaders can be developed through structured inquiry projects. As in Delong’s own doctoral journey, leadership development becomes inseparable from research into one’s practice.
This might involve:
- Embedding inquiry projects into leadership qualification programs.
- Pairing emerging leaders with mentors who also work with an inquiry stance.
- Documenting leadership journeys as case studies, demonstrating how values and evidence inform decision-making.
The Human Dimension: Relationships, Trust, and Hope
No culture of inquiry can thrive without trust. Delong’s research underscores that inquiry is deeply relational: people will not share uncertainties, missteps, or emerging ideas unless they feel respected and safe.
Building this trust requires:
- Consistent, ethical leadership that aligns words and actions with professed values.
- Inclusive dialogue that seeks out marginalized voices, including students and families.
- Recognition of emotional labour, acknowledging that inquiry into one’s practice can be challenging and vulnerable work.
At its best, a culture of inquiry is also a culture of hope: a shared belief that, through thoughtful, collaborative effort, the system can become more just, more effective, and more humane.
Long-Term Impact: From Individual Thesis to System Change
While Delong’s study centered on her own professional practice as a Superintendent, its implications are systemic. A single leader’s commitment to inquiry can catalyze widespread changes in how knowledge is created, shared, and used within a School Board.
Over time, this can lead to:
- Greater alignment between policy, practice, and core values.
- More responsive, context-sensitive approaches to school improvement.
- A profession-wide sense of agency, where educators see themselves as authors of educational theory, not just implementers of others’ ideas.
The creation of a personal living educational theory becomes a model for organizational learning: the Board itself develops an evolving theory of how it supports student success, continually refined through evidence and reflection.
Conclusion: Leading School Boards as Learning Communities
Developing a culture of inquiry within a School Board is not a quick initiative; it is a long-term commitment, as illustrated by Delong’s five-year study. It calls for leaders who are willing to study their own practice, embrace uncertainty, and invite others into a shared journey of learning.
When School Boards operate as learning communities—anchored in values, informed by evidence, and energized by practitioner research—they move beyond incremental change. They become places where students, educators, and leaders co-create the future of education, guided by living theories that grow from everyday practice and genuine care for human flourishing.