Joel Maki

EDEL/EDSC 502H-72
Spring 2022

Issues in Teacher Leadership

Article 1:
The ASCD Whole Child Initiative held a symposium in 2014 that discussed

various aspects of teacher leadership. The setting was the Fall 2014 Whole Child

Symposium, which included physical and virtual attendees. The panel was led by 6

members that had a vast array of experiences from teachers to administration. The

findings advocated for more collaboration and shared leadership amongst educators

and administrators, intentional professional development for teacher leadership, which

should occur at the entrance of the profession, and funded. This teacher leadership

should not be seen as a threat to administration, but a strength for the entire school

community. Finally, it found that not all professional development is equal, and should

vary with site-specific characteristics.

I have felt extremely fortunate at my current school to have access and

encouragement for internal growth, as well as professional development. This has only

made me a better member of our school community, and from a business standpoint,

more valuable. The authors suggested that teacher leadership can alleviate some of the

pressures on administrators. For example, as music department chair, I am currently

overseeing the hiring process for a new middle school music teacher at my school. Not

only does this take some of the initial responsibilities from the administration, it is also
furthering my understanding of the hiring process. Leadership opportunities can connect

teachers to their schools from outside of their classroom.

Article 2:
Learningforjustice.org created a list of best critical practices for anti-biased

education, as well as critical pedagogy, notably written about by Paulo Frere. These

practices include 1) self-awareness and cultural competency, 2) speaking up and

responding to prejudice, bias and stereotypes, 3) building alliances, 4) leading beyond

the classroom, and 5) ongoing reflection and learning. The authors were the Learning

for Justice organization (formally Teaching for Justice) provides educational resources

for racial justice. The findings were that schools benefit from professional development

on LGBT, race, disability, ethnicity, and more. The article advocated for educators to

intervene in moments of witnessing injustice, create communities to build relationships

and support, have conversations with members outside of the classroom to create a

more inclusive school community, and to continue to reflect on individual practices,

learning and future development as educators.

As a member of the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee at my school, I

found all of these strategies to be proven successful. As a school, we aim to create an

inclusive environment to meet the needs of all of our students and faculty. I

wholeheartedly agree with all of the strategies put forth in this article, and can validate

their effectiveness. Most effectively, I find self-awareness and cultural competency a

vital tool as an educator. Leadership development should include this type of training,

as we are not just teaching curriculum, but also human beings.

Comparison
These two articles suggest that educators and administrators can benefit from

teacher leadership professional development. Teaching for Justice moves to a more

specific type of professional development, whereas the ASCD Whole Child Initiative

was more broad in scope. The former article, in my opinion, has a more humanistic

motivator, as it deals with pressing issues such as race and equity. Both are a call to

action for both teachers and administrators. I found both of these articles useful for the

teaching practice, as well as motivating as leaders in education. I feel that I

serendipitously chose articles that are at the intersection of two passions; DEI work and

teacher leadership.

Works Cited

ASCD Whole Child Initiative. “Teacher Leadership: The What, Why, and How of

Teachers as Leaders”. A Report on the Fall 2014 ASCD Whole Child

Symposium.

https://files.ascd.org/staticfiles/ascd/pdf/siteASCD/wholechild/fall2014wcsreport.p

df

Teaching for Justice. “Teacher Leadership.” Learning for Justice,

2021, https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/publications/critical-practices-

for-antibias-education/teacher-leadership.