The use of an online learning community is one possible approach to teachers' professional development that can enhance the opportunity for collaboration. Discussions in online learning communities not only allow community members to share resources, ideas and expertise, but also contribute to the fulfilment of teachers' needs in terms of continuous learning and professional development. This paper reports the findings of a study that aimed to explore the factors that influence the way teachers behave in online communities. The research participants were 16 teachers from five secondary schools in Malaysia who were teaching English, science and mathematics. These teachers were involved in online learning communities via blogs in which they exchanged stories and experiences related to their teaching and learning activities. Data were generated through one-to-one interviews. Based on thematic analysis, the overall findings indicate that teachers' levels of participation in their online learning communities were largely influenced by cultural issues. Other factors that impacted upon their engagement were time, enforcement by school administrators and their need for an online community.

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Teachers' professional development is not only important for teachers, also for schools' development. This study aims to explore teachers' engagement in communities of practice in schools and their views on the most effective professional development approach that they had experienced. The participants were 16 teachers from five schools in two states in Malaysia. The data was generated through semi-structured interviews. The analysis was done using thematic analysis, using Nvivo as a tool. The findings indicate that although for these teachers, attending courses, training and seminars helped them to gain new knowledge and related skills, their involvement in informal learning communities was significantly more meaningful for their professional development. This paper discusses the implications of this finding on the implementation of professional development currently being practiced in the Malaysian education system.

School planning has developed significantly over the last ten years with the universal acceptance of school development planning formats and approaches. However, the move to schoolbased management and greater autonomy has increased the need for schools to take on a wider planning role and responsibility. This paper considers three models of planning. It briefly outlines the original model of school development planning that the authors articulated in 1992 but then examines the need for schools to extend their planning from short-term school development planning to longer-term strategic planning and, most significantly, to incorporate "futures thinking". It then develops a new model which the authors believe should be more responsive to the needs of school planning in the future.