Schools as Communities: Four Metaphors, Three Models, and a Dilemma or Two

This paper examines two questions. The first is what it would mean for schools to be communities. This question is pursued by examining four metaphors for community: families, congregations, guilds, and democratic polities. Three models of school communities are then sketched. The second question is whether schools that are communities are inherently illiberal. The paper distinguishes between a liberal interpretation of schools as communities, where schools are viewed as limited‐purpose free associations, and a communitarian interpretation where community and polity are not adequately distinguished. I argue that, within a framework of liberal pluralism, schools can be communities without being illiberal.