Advocacy for Teacher Leadership: Opportunity, Preparation, Support, and Pathways (Springerbriefs in Education)

"This book advocates for an alternative to the hierarchical positioning of leaders. It proposes to value leadership practices which emerge from collective concerns about learning and the realisation that collegial interactions offer opportunities for rich explorations of pedagogy and new understandings to be developed. The book draws upon illustrative examples from a longitudinal study of early career teachers, entitled "Teachers of Promise: Aspirations and realities". It explores matters of personal ambition, support from significant others, and barriers to teacher leadership. It shows that these vary from context to context and individual to individual. Examples highlight the ways in which each teacher's experience has been enabled and constrained by different considerations. In combination, the examples offered demonstrate the need for the teaching profession to be more systematic in identifying and supporting talented teachers who could be the leaders of learning for tomorrow. The book shows that individuals themselves need to have an openness to consider how they might become more effective teachers through their engagement in leadership work. This, it suggests, involves developing a different conception of leadership to counter the prevailing view that leadership is typically positional and defined by its distance from classroom teaching. The more promising portrayal is to link teacher leadership explicitly with learning." -- Prové de l'editor Foreword 5 Dilemmas, Professional Growth and Career Trajectories 5 References 7 Contents 8 About the Author 12 List of Figures 13 List of Tables 14 1 Introduction 15 Purpose 15 My Interest in Teacher Leadership 16 Process Employed 18 Chapter Overview 19 Chapter 2: Why Is There an Interest in Teacher Leadership? 19 Chapter 3: What Does the Literature Say About Why Teacher Leadership Matters? 19 Chapter 4: What Can Be Learnt About Teachers as Leaders and Teacher Leadership from Research on Teachers’ Career Ambitions and Potential? 20 Chapter 5: Why Does Leadership as Position Matter for Some and not Others? 20 Chapter 6: What Makes Effective Professional Learning for Teachers so that They Can Lead Learning? 21 Chapter 7: How Can School Cultures and Wider Networks Enable Teacher Leadership to Flourish? 21 Chapter 8: How Do Teachers View the Concepts of Teacher Leader and Teacher Leadership? 22 Chapter 9: What Are the Key Messages and Next Steps for Teacher Leadership? 22 References 22 2 Why Is There an Interest in Teacher Leadership? 23 Understandings of the Leadership Terminology in Use 23 Positional Leadership Is Only One Form of Leadership Practised by Teachers 24 Interpreting Leadership as Activity Versus Position 24 Understanding Why the Separation of the Terms Leader and Leadership Matters 25 The Attraction of Leadership, Given Issues of Quality and Supply 26 The Perception that Leadership Means Leaving the Classroom Behind 26 Responsibilities for Developing Leadership Activity 27 Recognising and Supporting Early Forms of Leadership Activity at the School Level 28 Using Collegial Dialogue to Support Changes in Practice 28 The Leadership and Learning Connection Is Central to Teacher Leadership 30 Recognising and Supporting Formal Leadership Learning from a National Systemic Level 31 Summary 32 References 33 3 What Does the Literature Say About Why Teacher Leadership Matters? 35 The Beginnings of Teacher Leadership 35 Lack of Clarity About Who Counts as a Teacher Leader 37 Leadership as Influence 38 From the Individual Leader to Multiple Leaders 39 Changing Conceptions of Leadership 40 Leadership for Learning 42 Teacher Leadership Terminology Is the Problem 43 Summary 45 References 45 4 What Can Be Learnt About Teachers as Leaders and Teacher Leadership from Research on Teachers’ Ambition and Potential? 47 Why Is There International Interest in Teacher Supply and Retention? 48 Notions of Career and Career Trajectories 49 Career Stage Cycles 50 Three Research Studies Focussing on Early Career Teachers 52 Study 1: A Single-case Longitudinal Study of Early Years in Teaching (Bullough and Baughman 1997) 52 Study 2: The Next Generation of Teachers Project (Johnson and The Project Team 2004) 54 Study 3: The Teachers of Promise Study 56 Vignettes from the Teachers of Promise Study 59 Vignette 1: Lucy 59 Vignette 2: Kate 60 Vignette 3: Ross 61 Teaching as a Career Choice 62 Summary 64 References 64 5 Why Does Leadership as Position Matter for Some and not Others? 66 Vignettes Illustrating Pathways to Teacher Leadership 67 Vignette 1: Tan 67 Vignette 2: Inga 68 Vignette 3: Jack 68 Readiness for Leadership Work 69 The Concept of Professionalism 71 The Learning Orientation of Teacher Leadership 73 Leadership as Spheres of Influence 75 Teacher Leadership Is a Complex Concept 77 A Stocktake of Lessons Learnt from Second-Stage Teachers 79 The Need for Inclusive Rather Than Isolationist Strategies 79 The Promise and Challenge of Differentiated Roles for Second-Stage Teachers 81 My Emerging Definition of Teacher Leadership 82 References 83 6 What Makes Effective Professional Learning for Teachers so that They Can Lead Learning? 85 What Makes Effective Professional Learning for Teachers? 87 A Focus on Quality Teaching and the Enhancement of Student Learning 88 When Should Leadership Awareness and Learning Start? 91 Leadership Learning Programs: Some Examples 92 Program Example 1: A Teacher Leadership Degree Program 92 Program Example 2: Review of Graduate Program Offerings on Teacher Leadership 93 Program Example 3: Education Ministry and Teacher Union Devised Program 94 Program Example 4: National Program for Aspiring Leaders 95 The Role of Self-assessment in Leadership Learning 97 Summary 98 References 99 7 How Can School Cultures and Wider Networks Enable Teacher Leadership to Flourish? 101 My Developing Definition of Teacher Leadership 102 Vignette 1: Ruby 103 Teacher Leadership Development Inside Wider Networks 103 School Cultures that Support the Establishment of Teacher Leadership 105 The IDEAS Program 108 The Terminology of Learning Relationships 113 The Concepts of Coaching and Mentoring 114 Research About Coaching/Mentoring Practices 115 Reflection and Inquiry 117 The Importance of Learning How to Mentor 117 Benefits of Mentoring for Those Who Are Mentors 121 Summary 122 References 124 8 How Do Teachers View the Concepts of Teacher Leader and Teacher Leadership? 126 Interview Sample 126 The Existence of Teacher Leader and Teacher Leadership in Practice 128 Understandings of How and Why Teacher Leadership Develops 129 Career Advancement 133 References 137 9 What Are the Key Messages and Next Steps for Teacher Leadership? 138 Why Is There an Interest in Teacher Leadership? 139 What Does the Literature Say About Why Teacher Leadership Matters? 140 What Can Be Learnt About Teachers as Leaders and Teacher Leadership from Research on Teachers’ Ambitions and Potential? 141 Why Does Leadership as Position Matter for Some and not Others? 142 What Makes Effective Professional Learning for Teachers so that They Can Lead Learning? 143 How Can School Cultures and Wider Networks Enable Teacher Leadership to Flourish? 144 How Do Teachers View the Concepts of Teacher Leader and Teacher Leadership? 145 Extended Explanation of Teacher Leader and Teacher Leadership 145 Suggested Next Steps 146 Leadership Learning Programs at the System Level 148 School-Level Actions 148 Individual Actions 149 References 149 Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Introduction (Susan Lovett)....Pages 1-8 Why Is There an Interest in Teacher Leadership? (Susan Lovett)....Pages 9-20 What Does the Literature Say About Why Teacher Leadership Matters? (Susan Lovett)....Pages 21-32 What Can Be Learnt About Teachers as Leaders and Teacher Leadership from Research on Teachers’ Ambition and Potential? (Susan Lovett)....Pages 33-51 Why Does Leadership as Position Matter for Some and not Others? (Susan Lovett)....Pages 53-71 What Makes Effective Professional Learning for Teachers so that They Can Lead Learning? (Susan Lovett)....Pages 73-88 How Can School Cultures and Wider Networks Enable Teacher Leadership to Flourish? (Susan Lovett)....Pages 89-113 How Do Teachers View the Concepts of Teacher Leader and Teacher Leadership? (Susan Lovett)....Pages 115-126 What Are the Key Messages and Next Steps for Teacher Leadership? (Susan Lovett)....Pages 127-138