Do Strong Schools Still Struggle to Learn?

There’s a quiet frustration many school leaders carry.

You invest in training.
You refine policies.
You hold meetings, review data, and respond quickly.

And yet, some problems return, term after term, wearing different uniforms.

This blog draws inspiration from Peter Senge’s work on organisational learning (most notably The Fifth Discipline), gently adapted to the real, lived context of schools. The intention is not theory for theory’s sake, but reflection that helps school leaders see their systems more clearly, relate deeply to their own context, and respond with wisdom rather than haste.

When capable people work hard… but learning stays stuck

Many organisations fail to learn not because people are unwilling or incapable, but because the system itself quietly prevents learning.

Schools are no exception.

In fact, schools are especially vulnerable because they are:

• deeply human.
• emotionally charged.
• layered with routines, hierarchies, and expectations.
• constantly responding to parents, boards, students, and society.

In such environments, leaders often become expert firefighters, yet wonder why the fire keeps coming back.

That’s where the idea of “learning disabilities” becomes useful.

Not as a label.
But as a mirror.

Learning disabilities in schools: patterns we rarely name

Think of learning disabilities not as flaws in people, but as blind spots in the system, ways of thinking and working that limit collective growth.

1. “I am my position”

When roles turn into silos.

In schools, this sounds like:

• “Discipline is the coordinator’s job.”
• “Academics is the teacher’s responsibility.”
• “Culture depends on the principal.”

Over time, people stop seeing how their actions ripple across the whole school.

A school, however, is not a relay race, it’s a rowing boat. If each person rows only their own oar, direction is lost.

Leadership reflection:
Where are responsibilities being passed along, instead of outcomes being owned together?

2. “The enemy is out there”

When the cause of every problem lies outside the school.

Parents are “difficult.”
Children are “different now.”
Boards are “too demanding.”

This mindset brings momentary relief, but blocks learning. Because if the problem is always outside, the system inside never gets examined.

Leadership reflection:
What patterns might our own structures be unintentionally producing?

3. The illusion of taking charge

Action feels like leadership.
But not all action is progress.

Stricter rules. More circulars. Tighter controls.
They create the appearance of decisiveness, like sprinting on a treadmill.

Movement, yes.
But no real change in direction.

Leadership reflection:
Are we reducing symptoms—or reshaping causes?

4. Fixation on events

Schools are busy places. Every day brings incidents:

• a conflict
• a complaint
• a poor result

When leadership responds only to events, the deeper patterns remain invisible.

It’s like treating every fever without ever asking what infection is causing it.

Leadership reflection:
What keeps repeating quietly beneath the surface?

From events to structures: the leadership shift that matters

The heart of systems leadership lies here:

Outcomes are perfectly designed by the systems that produce them.

When results disappoint, the most useful question is not:
“Who didn’t do their job?”

But:
“What in our system is shaping this outcome, again and again?”

This doesn’t mean copying models from other schools.
One size never fits all.

Each school has:

• its own culture
• its own constraints
• its own history
• its own people

Systems leadership respects that uniqueness.

A simple 1% starting point for school leaders

You don’t need complex diagrams to begin.

Choose one recurring issue in your school, just one.

Then reflect together:

• What patterns do we see over time?
• Which structures might be reinforcing this pattern?(roles, routines, communication loops, schedules, incentives)
• What is the smallest 1% shift that improves the structure—not just the symptom?

Small structural changes, applied consistently, often calm the entire system.