In his paper, 'The Knowledge-Creating School', David Hargreaves proposes that schools are key players in the generation of better professional knowledge: of what constitute the most effective teaching and learning practices. The problem is that, much professional knowledge about teaching and learning is locked in the heads of individual teachers and protected by the privacy of their classrooms…it is tacit, this is, in the form of practical know-how that is not easily articulated.

Hargreaves highlights key features characterising knowledge-creating institutions including:

Successful schools will also have developed a variety of approaches to ensure that the outcomes of this work can be effectively validated and then disseminated both within the institution and beyond.