Teacher Leadership
The Best Hope for
Sustaining School Change
Teacher Leadership
Teacher Leadership is the critical
element in any successful professional
learning community. By opening their
classroom practices to their peers,
teacher leaders help to de-privatize
teaching – an indispensable first step
in the process of building a PLC.
Teacher Leadership
“When given opportunities to lead, teachers
can influence school reform efforts.
Waking this sleeping giant of teacher
leadership has unlimited potential in
making a real difference in the pace and
depth of school change.”
Katzenmeyer and Moller, Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Helping Teachers
Develop as Leaders, 2001
Teacher Leadership
What is teacher leadership?
Charlotte Danielson defines it as:
“Skills demonstrated by teachers who
continue to teach but who influence
practices of other teachers and
activities in other classrooms.”
Teacher Leadership
Teacher Leadership does not have to
be a stepping stone to
administration. In fact, many
veteran teachers are looking for
ways to “scratch the leadership itch”
without leaving the classroom.
Teacher Leadership
Why does teacher leadership offer the promise of
sustained change?
The typical tenure for a principal is 3 to 5 years.
On the other hand, it is not uncommon for a
teacher to work in the same building for 20 to
30 years.
That is why changes initiated by teachers often
last longer than changes initiated by principals.
Teacher Leadership
What does teacher leadership look like?
Typically it is demonstrated in one of three
ways:
Schoolwide policies and programs
Teaching and learning
Communications and community
relations
Teacher Leadership
A few examples of schoolwide policies & programs leadership:
Serving on a schoolwide council
Creating schoolwide policies for student conduct, attendance,
grading, homework, etc
Initiating and leading co-curricular activities
Encouraging student volunteerism
Mentoring and coaching new teachers
Arranging social programs for faculty and staff
Hiring new staff
Organizing a cross-age tutoring program
Leading professional development activities by either making
a presentation or sharing practice
Teacher Leadership
A few examples of teaching and learning leadership:
Looking at student work with fellow teachers
Collecting an analyzing data with fellow teachers
Developing clear and unambiguous expectations of student
performance in collaboration with fellow teachers
Developing common tasks with fellow teachers
Developing common rubrics with fellow teachers
Building common assessments with fellow teachers
Developing an interdisciplinary unit with a peer
Developing interventions with fellow teachers for students
performing below expectations
Teacher Leadership
A few examples of communication and community leadership
Communicating positive information to parents
Instituting student-led parent conferences
Organizing a parent information night to explain new curricular
programming
Organizing a parent information night to address student
developmental issues
Providing parents with information about how to support student
learning
Provide leadership for collecting information for the school
website
Initiate a family reading night in the school library
Develop a schoolwide process to monitor student progress from
grade to grade
Teacher Leadership
What skills are required of teacher leaders?
Using evidence and data in decision-making
Recognizing opportunities & taking initiative
Mobilizing people around a common cause
Marshalling resources & taking action
Monitoring progress and making adjustments
Sustaining the commitment of others
Habits of mind, like optimism, enthusiasm, open-
mindedness, confidence, courage, decisiveness,
perseverance, creativity, flexibility, etc.
Teacher Leadership
Dealing with negativity
Expressions of negativity are common in school.
Questioning and challenging comments are
healthy, but negativity for its own sake is not!
“We tried that once and it didn’t work.”
“Without additional funding, there is nothing we
can do.”
“You can’t make chicken salad…”
Teacher Leadership
Perhaps the most important contribution
that a teacher leader can make to
school improvement is to resist the
temptation to become negative or
cynical. Where negativity and
cynicism abound, there is neither
energy nor motivation for change.
Teacher Leadership
Administrative leadership is necessary, but not
sufficient, for sustained school
improvement.
In that context, the principal’s primary duty
may be to empower teachers to display
leadership qualities. Which means that
principals must be willing to share their
power and their authority.
Teacher Leadership
The role of an administrator is to support, promote, & honor
the work of teachers by:
Setting the tone (culture) & maintaining the vision
Conveying and building confidence in teachers
Clarifying ideas and planning an approach
Marshalling support from downtown
Locating additional resources
Demonstrating support to the ranks
Presenting innovations to the public
Teacher Leadership
Administrative leadership and teacher
leadership are complementary concepts that
ideally work together.
The power of teacher leaders does not come
from administrators; it comes from their
acceptance by fellow teachers. Thus,
teacher leaders do not hold formal
leadership roles.
Teacher Leadership
Possible obstacles to teacher leadership:
1. Contested ground – principal will not share his/her
authority.
2. Teacher contracts – often limit teacher hours, duties,
and view of job.
3. State requirements – licensure issues can drain time
and energy.
4. Assigning formal leadership roles – takes the teacher
leader out of the classroom.
5. Confusing board certification with teacher leadership
– not mutually exclusive but not the same.
Teacher Leadership
Andy Hargreaves says that
sustainability is not the
institutionalization of changed
practice but rather the habit of
critically examining practice as part
of the daily work of a school.
