EN
A major educational reform of the primary and lower secondary schools started in the Czech Republic in 2007. Shortly after the launch of the reform, we studied the actual picture of teaching, learning, and instructional leadership in one Czech comprehensive school, using the design research of a case study. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to describe the educational processes in the school – predominantly questioning, observation, and documentary analysis. Using qualitative data analysis we have sketched a narrative that highlights the role of structural factors – the small size of the school, the co-existence of primary and lower secondary schools within one organisation, as well as its unique history. The research results describe a case of schooling at the very beginning of educational reform, and guide the design of our next case studies of schools.