Since early 1990, scholars have been attentive to types of learning that take place in groups, thus stressing the social dimension of professional development. We can think of the concept of learning organization developed by Senge (1990) or the large concept of communities which further evolved into many variations: seminal concept of community of practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991); learning communities (Wenger, 2001); learning and research communities (Sergiovanni, 1989; Sirotnik, 1989), individual and collective competencies (Le Boterf, 2004) to name some of the variations taken by the larger concept of community. Learning community, at the heart of this research, is seen as a rich learning setting that contributes not only to school personnel’ professional development but also on students’ success. If many researches have stressed the value of learning communities (Savoie-Zajc, 2007; Sergiovanni, 1994). and their impact on students’ achievement (Dufour and Eacker, 1998), few have questioned the dynamic of support needed by these communities to evolved and sustain themselves. A group of researchers started a study in 2007 to explore how to support school personnel to adjust professional practices in a way that will increase students’ school success since professional practice has an impact upon students’ performances (Dufour and Eacker, 1998). The main research objective is to depict the dynamics of support needed for a learning community to evolve and sustain itself. The research is structured into three phases. Phase one rests upon the assumption that a school team needs a focus to create a learning community. In our research, this focus is embodied in pedagogical projects school personnel developed in order to stimulate students’ school successes (Boutinet, 2005). One of the research objectives is then, to describe pedagogical projects schools developed in relation with their students’ success. Objective of phase two deals with understanding the nature of the experience school personnel have developed in the conception and implementation of pedagogical projects, their understanding of what a learning community is and the needs they identify regarding its creation and sustaining. Phase three aims at bringing tangible support to school teams according to the needs they voiced regarding the creation of learning communities in their respective school.

So far the research has completed the first two phases. Those two will be described. Face to face or phone interviews were conducted during phase one of the research. Forty-nine respondents were asked to describe pedagogical projects their school have developed in order to support students’ school success. In the second part of the interview, participants were asked to reflect upon their experience of conducting pedagogical projects dealing with school success. In phase two, fifteen participants of phase one were invited to join one two-hour focus group. They had to reflect upon: 1) what it means to engage in pedagogical project (Boutinet, 2005); 2) what types of learning the school team realizes in such a setting that calls for collaboration and cohesion among school personnel and 3) what are their needs and types of support regarding the creation of a learning community.

This communication will present the results of the first two phases of the research. Forty-nine pedagogical projects were documented for primary, secondary and adult education. Projects were analyzed and classified into three categories: academic, cognitive and affective. Academic dimension in projects reinforces teaching school subjects matters. Cognitive dimension in projects places an emphasis upon the development of learning strategies. Finally, affective dimension in projects stresses the development of relational competencies and self-esteem. The affective dimension is the most often present dimension and the most projects are developed at the secondary level. Fifteen actors coming from seven schools then participated in a focus group. The needs they conveyed for support in professional development and regarding the creation of learning communities will be reviewed.