Teacher Leadership
Teacher leadership can be described as the power to influence, affect, change, and direct students, peers, families, and communities so as to improve both learning practices and student achievement outcomes (Danielson, 2006). One of the most compelling benefits that teacher leadership brings to students is the enhancement and enrichment of the learning environment. When teachers become leaders, they create a culture of innovation and collaboration that enables students to rise up to the level of leadership, too. In other words, teacher leadership supports the growth and development of the learner to become a leader.
For others teachers, I would say that one of the most significant benefits of teacher leadership is the opportunity for greater professional growth. Acting as a leader usually means there are chances for professional development. These chances help to increase the effectiveness of teaching practices and raise the standards of the teaching community as a whole. Plus, teacher leaders become role models for their colleagues this way (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, n.d.).
Teacher leadership can also be a source of positive social change in education as evidence-based teaching strategies and policies get implemented in the classroom. Teacher leaders tend to have big impacts on decision-making processes within their schools and districts. Thus, they can impact state-wide education in terms of informing standards and policies.
On a personal level, taking on a leadership role gives the teacher a greater sense of purpose. It can lead to greater professional opportunities outside the classroom, especially if one is looking to advance to the administrative level. Teacher leaders tend to be the ones to become administrative personnel over time. They bring their vision, professionalism, and experience to a level of education that is important in providing governance for schools and districts.
References
Danielson, C. (2006). Teacher leadership that strengthens professional practice. Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.Links to an external site.(n.d.). Home.
Retrieved from http://www.nbpts.org/
The Teacher and Principal Relationship with the Principal as Leader Research indicate that the primary role of the principal is that of the school "leader." The decision a principal makes concerning the issue of instructional leadership and the extent to which that principal develops the skills needed to exercise appropriate instructional leadership will influence what does or does not happen in classrooms throughout the country. Marks and Printy (2003) agree that the importance of the instructional leadership
References Atkinson, R.C. & Shiffrin, R.M. (1968). "Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes." in, Spence, K. & Spence, J. (Eds), Advances in the Psychology of Learning and Motivation, 2(1): New York: Academic Press. Bailey, a.J. (1986). Policy making in schools: Creating a sense of educational purpose. Balshaw, M. (1991). Help in the classroom. London: David Fulton Publishers. Campbell, J., Kyriakides, L., Mujis, D. & Robinson, W. (2004). Assessing teacher effectiveness: Developing
What is the most critical aspect of a teacher's leadership skills however is their ability to make their students actively question and grow their perception of who they are and what their strengths are. A true teacher leader can guide students to what they are excellent at as well, giving them insights into how best to find the intersection of their talents and passions. The true test of a teacher who is leading is in
One example of this flaw is found in the third force in Sergiovanni's model, the educational force, which is associated with gathering and analyzing specialized knowledge applicable to education (Victoria Department of Education 2007). At the private senior school where I am employed, certain school leaders have certainly mastered the educational force and have amassed a wide range of specialized educational knowledge, but their inability to interact effectively with their
The study itself was based in a rural southern school of 720 students and 62 teachers...During professional development days, nine teachers were asked to present a program that focused on a particular effective teaching practice in which they excelled based upon the evaluations, both formal and informal, of the campus administration" (Hickey & Harris, 2005: 4).It was thus a school-specific professional leadership plan, not one connected to a lager
Leadership in Action The process of planning for the teacher leadership initiative from the identification of a need/issue to address to action planning and determining measures for evaluation can be regarded as collaborative action research. Lee, Sachs & Wheeler (2014) contend that teachers can carry out action research through taking what their learning activities in the classroom and leveraging it to help enhance the performance of the school community. Together with
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now