Putting the Leader in

Teacher Leaders
Karen Rohrs
Director, Professional Development
Courtney Lowe

Director, Curriculum and Assessment

http://bit.ly/Pn992v

Goals for the Session

Participants will ...
1. Explore a conceptual framework for
consideration of teacher leadership
based on research
2. Explore:

definitions of teacher leadership

what it takes to be an effective teacher leader
practices and competencies
ways to develop valued competencies

As we begin ....
1. What makes leaders in your school successful?
2. In your experience, do the best teachers make the best
teacher leaders?

2. How should teacher leadership intersect with the role of the

principal and other administrators?

WHAT IS TEACHER
LEADERSHIP?

Assumptions
Teacher leadership is
distinctive.

Teacher leadership is like

the other forms of
leadership.

Teaching and learning are

the focus of teacher
leadership.

Organizational issues are

the focus of teacher
leadership.

All teachers are potential

leaders.

Some teachers are

potential leaders.

Teacher leadership can

be nurtured.

Teacher leadership is
inherent.

Teachers are accountable

for learning outcomes.

Administrators are
accountable for learning
outcomes.

Source: Crowther, F. Kaagan, S., Ferguson, M, & Hann, L. (2002). Developing Teacher Leaders: How Teacher Leadership Enhances School
Success. Corwin Press, California. (Page 110)

Assumptions Dialogue
1. Where along the lines
between the contrasting
elements does your present
school situation best fit? In
what ways is this similar to
your personal response?
2. In what ways might the
assumptions facilitate or
impede progress?

Source: Crowther, F. Kaagan, S., Ferguson, M, & Hann, L. (2002). Developing Teacher Leaders: How Teacher Leadership Enhances School
Success. Corwin Press, California. (Page 110)

Leadership
1. What are the big ideas from the definitions?
2. What are some things that you anticipated reading, but
were not represented here?
3. What might you take from these for your own situation?

Leaders
FORMAL teacher leaders - positional
"authority"

Department Chair
Instructional Coach
Mentor
INFORMAL teacher leaders spontaneous, organic. Their influence
stems from their expertise and practice.
Wasley (1991) found informal teacher leaders more
influential than formal teacher leaders

Wasley, P.A. (1991) Teachers who lead: The rhetoric of reform and the realities of practice. New York: Teachers
College Press.

Definitions of Teacher Leadership

Through 3 Waves of Practice
1st Wave: TLs served in formal roles, typically as an
extension of administration, with the goal of improving
school efficiency
2nd Wave: TLs capitalized on instructional expertise and
served as curriculum leaders, staff developers, and
mentors to new teachers
3rd Wave: TLs central to the process of "reculturing"
schools to maximize instructional expertise. Recognition of
the fact that promoting improvement requires a
collaborative culture focused on continuous learning, which
necessarily involves teachers as creators of culture.
Source: Silva, D. Y., Gimbert, B. & Nolan, J. (2000) Sliding the doors: Locking and unlocking possibilities for teacher
leadership. Teachers College Record, 102, 779-804 cited in York-Barr, J., & Duke, K. (2004). What do we know about
teacher leadership? Findings from two decades of scholarship. Review of educational research, 74(3), 255316.

WHAT DO TEACHER
LEADERS DO?

Principles of Teacher
Leadership
Model effective practices
Respected by their peers, approachable
Continue to teach, continuous learners
Influence extends beyond their own classroom
Diverse yet distinctive
Can be nurtured (knowledge and skills, dispositions)
Advance "social sustainability"
Collaborative; influential; group skills
Transformational,
manage a process of
change
Further the mission of the school; work
toward shared goals; learning oriented

Teachers, Teacher Leaders,

Administrators
ADMINISTRATORS

TEACHERS

TEACHER LEADERS

Teacher Leaders &

Administrators
"If educational improvement is going to last, it must
depend on more than a few leaders...it must not be
built on the capacities of individual leaders but rather
on powerful communities of teacher leadership that
continue to make and sustain change with, and
alongside, administrators." - Andy Hargreaves in
Crowther (pg. xii)
"Teacher leadership occurs most readily in
supportive organizational environments." (Crowther,
page 11)
"Teacher leadership is inseparable from the concept
of empowerment..." - the notion of creating
opportunities, encouraging and then stepping back to

Teacher Leader Differentiators

great teachers .... great leaders

Self-Check
In what ways do teachers,
teacher leaders and
administrators intersect in
your school?

Who are the teacher leaders

in your school? What do they
do?

Conceptual Framework

WHAT MAKES A
GOOD TEACHER
LEADER?

TL Competencies
In what ways does the articulation of
competencies help with identification,
recruitment, and evaluation of teacher
leaders?
1. Charlotte Danielson Areas of School
Life

2. CSTP Teacher Leadership Skills

Framework
3. CSETL Capacity Building Rubric
4. Teachers as Leaders Framework
(Crowther)

5. Teacher Leader Model Standards

HOW CAN WE
DEVELOP TEACHER
LEADERS?

How Can We Train?

If there are established
competencies, and if leadership
can be nurtured, then there is
room for training and
development. What are some
ways we can develop teacher
leaders? What kinds of training
would be helpful?

Defined
and articulated
Knowledge, Skills and Dispositions
standards
Tools: Self-Assessment example from CSTP

Administrators create opportunities for

teachers to exercise leadership roles...
1. Create "hybrid" roles for teachers, in which
they can remain in their classroom, but also
serve as instructional coaches, teacher
facilitators, mentors, etc

2. Promote shared or distributed leadership

structures that provide teachers with input into
school policies, curriculum and professional
development
3. Provide teachers with common planning
time, job-embedded professional development
opportunities and released time to collaborate
with peers
4. Recognise the contributions of teacher
leadership to improving student learning.

Content Emphases for TL Development

1. Continuing to learn about and demonstrate advanced
curricular, instructional, and assessment practices
2. Understanding the school culture and how to initiate
and support change in schools
3. Developing the knowledge and skills necessary to
support the development of colleagues in individual,
small group, and large group interactions (p. 282)

Teacher to Teacher Leader... what are

some areas on which to focus?
Content emphasis #1: Continuing
to learn about and demonstrate
advanced curricular, instructional,
and assessment practices
- Knowledge of research for teaching
and learning
- Analyse one's own professional
practice and that of others
- Awareness of effective teaching
practice
- Supporting/leading team to "forge
new ways"; take risks as learners
Source: York-Barr, J., & Duke, K. (2004). What do we know about teacher
leadership? Findings from two decades of scholarship. Review of educational

Teacher to Teacher Leader... what are

some areas on which to focus?
Content emphasis #2:
Understanding the school culture
and how to initiate and support
change in schools
-Change orientation
-Organizational savvy
-Balancing advocacy and inquiry
-Change theory
-Cultural competencies across
populations
-Education policy
Source: York-Barr, J., & Duke, K. (2004). What do we know about teacher leadership?
Findings from two decades of scholarship. Review of educational research, 74(3), 255

Teacher to Teacher Leader... what are

some areas on which to focus?
Content emphasis #3: Developing
the knowledge and skills
necessary to support the
development of colleagues in
individual, small group, and large
group interactions

-Adult learning models

-Partnerships with peers and

administrators
-Trust and relationship building
-Coaching, observation and mentoring
skills - feedback
-Facilitation and presentation skills
-Professional practices
-Communication strategies
Source: York-Barr, J., & Duke, K. (2004). What do we know about teacher

Whats Our Role?

Pedagogical
development
(Teachers as leaders)

School-Based Learning

Culture Building
Stimulus
ideas

Shared
approach to
pedagogy
Enhanced School
Capacity

Strategic development
(The principal as leader)

Linking Parallel Leadership and Successful School

Reform