Advocacy for Teacher Leadership (eBook)

Opportunity, Preparation, Support, and Pathways

Susan Lovett (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2018 | 1st ed. 2018
XVII, 138 Seiten
Springer International Publishing (Verlag)
978-3-319-74430-8 (ISBN)

Infos

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.

Inhalt

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

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 2.2.2018
• Zusatzinfo: XVII, 138 p. 7 illus.
• Verlagsort: Cham
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik ► Bildungstheorie
• Schlagworte: coaching and mentoring • Communities of Practice • hierarchical leadership • leadership as learning • leadership conceptions • leadership practice • leadership work • Learning and Instruction • non-positional leadership • pedagogical expertise • Shared Leadership • Teacher leadership • teacher professionalism
• ISBN-10: 3-319-74430-5 / 3319744305
• ISBN-13: 978-3-319-74430-8 / 9783319744308