学派 refers to a school of thought or intellectual tradition — a group of thinkers, researchers, or practitioners who share core ideas, methods, or doctrines. You'll encounter it in academic contexts (哲学学派 'philosophical school'), political theory (经济学派 'economic school'), and artistic movements (艺术学派 'artistic school'). Unlike English 'school of thought', it's also used for specific academic departments or research groups, and can sometimes overlap with -ism (主义) when naming doctrines, but 学派 emphasizes the group of people and their shared approach rather than the doctrine itself.