The need for school‐constructed theories in practice in US school restructuring

States that research on school restructuring provides little evidence that teacher‐student‐principal relationships are changing. Staffs may be confusing structural thinking (adopting and implementing organization structures such as shared governance, co‐operative learning groups, teacher‐student advisories) with normative thinking (reconceptualizing how norms characterizing ideal relationships among teachers, principals, and students can be supported and developed through organization structures). Argues that normative thinking requires staffs to reflect critically about their schools as workplaces but that US schools have not been reflective workplaces. As a vehicle for this normative thinking, suggests school‐site constructed theories in practice, which have two steps: critical inquiry and monitoring the change progress. Makes three policy suggestions based on the need for staffs to theorize about their practice: an action research role for professors; a caveat about prescribing only measurable outcomes for administrator preparation programmes; and time for teacher‐leader and principal reflection on their practice.