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Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 961972

Teacher led school improvement: Teacher leadership in the UK

Daniel Muijsa,, Alma Harrisb

aUniversity of Manchester, School of Education, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UKbUniversity of Warwick, UK

Abstract

Teacher leadership is increasingly being seen as a key vehicle for school improvement and renewal. However, research on

this phenomenon is limited, especially outside of the US.

This article presents findings from an empirical study of teacher leadership in the UK, aimed at exploring both the ways

in which teacher leadership can influence school and teacher development, and what in-school factors can help or hinder

the development of teacher leadership in schools. The study was undertaken using a qualitative case study approach,

purposively selected as being sites where teacher leadership was operational.

Data indicated that teacher leadership was characterised by a variety of formal and informal groupings, often facilitated

by involvement in external programmes. Teacher leadership was seen to empower teachers, and contributed to school

improvement through this empowerment and the spreading of good practice and initiatives generated by teachers.

A range of conditions needed to be in place in schools for teacher leadership to be successful, including a culture of trust

and support, structures that supported teacher leadership but were clear and transparent, strong leadership, with the head

usually being the originator of teacher leadership, and engagement in innovative forms of professional development.r 2006 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords:School reform; Distributed leadership; Teacher professionalism; Empowerment; School conditions

1. Introduction

Successful school improvement is dependent

upon the ability of individual schools to manage

change and development. This necessitates building

the capacity for change and development withinthe school as an organisation. Building the capacity

for school improvement requires paying careful

attention to how collaborative processes in schools

are fostered and developed. In particular, it is

concerned with maximising teacher professional

learning. It suggests that where individuals feel

confident in their own capacity, in the capacity of

their colleagues and in the capacity of the school to

promote professional development (Mitchell & Sack-

ney, 2000, p. 78) school improvement is more likely

to be achieved.

Building capacity for school improvement impliesa profound change in schools as organisations. It

suggests a view of the school as a professional

community where teachers have the opportunity to

learn from each other and to work together. In such

communities leadership is distributed throughout

the system and improvement occurs from an internal

search for meaning, relevance and connection(Mitch-

ell & Sackney, 2000, p. 139). Building the capacity

for improvement also means extending the potential

ARTICLE IN PRESS

www.elsevier.com/locate/tate

0742-051X/$- see front matterr 2006 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

doi:10.1016/j.tate.2006.04.010

Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 161 2753039.

E-mail address: [email protected] (D. Muijs).

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and capabilities of teachers to lead within the

organisation. In the USA, Canada and Australia

the concept of teacher leadership is particularly

well developed and grounded in some research

evidence. This model of leadership implies a

redistribution of power and a re-alignment ofauthority within the organisation. Evidence would

suggest that where such conditions are in place,

leadership is a much stronger internal driver for

school improvement and change (Hopkins, 2001).

Within the literature the concept of teacher

leadership is defined in various ways (see Harris

and Muijs, 2001). However, most commonly it is

interpreted as comprising of the formal leadership

roles that teachers undertake that have both

management and pedagogical responsibilities i.e.

head of department, subject co-ordinator, key stage

co-ordinator; and the informal leadership roles thatinclude coaching, leading a new team and setting up

action research groups. Teacher leadership is con-

ceptualised as a set of behaviours and practices that

are undertaken collectively. It is centrally concerned

with the relationships and connections among

individuals within a school. Teacher leadership is

conceptually closely linked to distributive leader-

ship, but is conceptually narrower, being concerned

exclusively with the leadership roles of teaching

staff, while simultaneously being broader than

many practical operationalisations of distributedleadership that have often concentrated on formal

positional roles, in particular those relating to

middle management and subject leadership (e.g.

Camburn, Rowan, & Taylor, 2004).

A key element in this model of distributed

leadership is that the nature and purpose of

leadership is the ability of those within a school to

work together, constructing meaning and knowledge

collectively and collaboratively (Lambert, 1998,

p. 5). Taking this stance, leadership is a fluid and

emergent rather than a fixed phenomenon. As Gronn

(2000, p. 333) has suggested this has three implica-

tions. Firstly, it implies a different power relation-

ship within the school where the distinctions

between followers and leaders tend to blur. Sec-

ondly, it has implications for the division of labour

within a school, particularly when the tasks facing

the organisation are shared more widely. Thirdly, it

opens up the possibility of all teachers becoming

leaders at various times. It is this last dimension that

has most potency and potential for school improve-

ment because it is premised upon collaborative

forms of working among teachers. This conceptua-

lisation of leadership, which reflects current theories

in educational leadership and management (Barth,

2001; Gronn, 2000; Harris & Lambert, 2003;

Woods, Bennett, Harvey, & Wise, 2004), differs

from some more traditional conceptualisations that

locate leadership firmly within the person of theheadteacher and reflects the view that every person

in one way or another can demonstrate leadership

(Goleman, Bryatzis, & McKee, 2002). This does not

mean that everyone is a leader or should be but it

opens up the possibility for a more democratic and

collective form of leadership. Gronn (2000) views

leadership as more of a collective phenomenon

where

y leadership is present in the flow of activities in

which a set of organisation members find

themselves enmeshed. (Gronn, 2000, p. 331)

and where leadership is viewed as a flow of

influence in organisations which disentangles it

from any presumed connection with headship

(Gronn, 2000, p. 334). It is this view of leadership

which has informed this study, and, therefore,

where we use the term leadership in this paper we

are referring to leadership as a process operating in

organisations, rather than as a process operating, or

operated by, an individual.

Teacher leadership is premised upon a power re-distribution within the school. In this leadership

model the power base is diffuse and authority is

dispersed within the teaching community. In this

sense, leadership is widely distributed amongst

organisational members. The extent to which power

is ever truly distributed is disputed, however,

especially in a culture of accountability where

ultimate responsibility will always rest with the

headteacher. However, while a substantial literature

exists on teacher leadership, empirical studies of

teacher leadership in action are relatively rare.

In many cases, the literature tends towards

advocacy rather than empirical research, presenting

a very optimistic picture of the implementation of

teacher leadership and its consequences. There is

some evidence for positive effects on school

improvement, though not all the research is of high

quality. Studies of the ways teacher leadership

actually can be implemented and what factors can

enhance it are rarer still, and most originate in

the US leaving questions about generalisability to

other educational systems and contexts. (Muijs &

Harris, 2003)

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2. The research

In the UK, teacher leadership is a relatively recent

phenomenon. Some examples of teacher leadership

are, however, currently emerging through initiatives

like the Networked Learning Communities, but asyet detailed accounts of teacher leadership do not

exist in this country. A great deal of research has

focussed upon the leadership of the headteacher but

little account has been taken of alternative con-

ceptualisations or models of distributed or shared

leadership, particularly those that address issues of

teacher professional learning and growth. Further-

more, as mentioned above, much of the existing

international literature is somewhat lacking in

detail, and may therefore be less useful to teachers

and schools intending to go down the road to

teacher leadership.Therefore, although the literature points towards

beneficial effects of teacher leadership upon schools

and students (Muijs & Harris, 2003), there is a

relative absence of research that has explored the

nature and impact of teacher leadership within the

UK context. In 2003 the General Teaching Council

for England (GTCE, the national professional body

for teachers), in conjunction with the National

Union of Teachers (NUT, the largest teacher union

in England), commissioned a research project to

explore the extent to which teacher leadership, as adistinctive form of professional collaboration for

school improvement, has cogency in the UK. Within

the project teacher leadership was defined as

the capacity for teachers to exercise leadership

for teaching and learning within and beyond the

classroom.

Initially, an extensive literature review funded by

the GTCE was undertaken (Muijs & Harris, 2003)

to explore the empirical and theoretical base

underlying the concept of teacher leadership. This

project built upon the initial review by exploring

teacher leadership in more depth and providing

contemporary evidence of teacher leadership in

action. In particular, this project aimed to

identify different models of, and approaches to,

teacher leadership in practice;

explore how teacher leadership can best be

facilitated and developed;

explore the possible relationship between teacher

leadership, as a form of professional collabora-

tive work, and school improvement.

The operational definition of teacher leadership

used in the research was one premised upon

purposeful collaboration and co-operation amongst

teachers. It is not leadership as defined by formal

role or responsibility (e.g. an assistant head or a

subject co-ordinator) but, as mentioned above, ascollective agency and professional collaborative

action with a pedagogical purpose which can take

the form of both formal and informal leadership

roles.

A case study design was adopted for the project.

Qualitative evidence was collected from ten school

case studies selected through purposive sampling,

covering a variety of contexts and circumstances.

These schools were initially identified by Local

Education Authority (LEA) advisers, national

bodies and external projects on the basis that there

was evidence of teacher leadership in the school thatwas considered to be contributing to improvement.

Researchers interrogated key informers in these

bodies who identified a long list of schools. A short

list was then selected. All schools shortlisted agreed

to participate in the study. In selecting the short list,

care was taken to select ten case study schools that

encompassed a range of variables (sector, geogra-

phical location, gender, ethnic mix) and reflected a

mixture of external initiatives (e.g. Networked

Learning Communities, Education Action Zones,

external school improvement initiatives). Bothprimary (5) and secondary (5) schools were included

as cases, as it was felt that though the contexts in

both sectors are quite different, empowering tea-

chers would be something that could benefit both. A

total of 4 schools (2 secondary, 2 primary) were

situated in disadvantaged inner-city areas. A total of

4 schools (2 primary and 2 secondary) were situated

in middle class suburban areas, while the remaining

two were situated in (semi) rural areas. All schools

were situated in the South and Midlands of

England.

It is acknowledged that in a small scale study of

this type generalisations to a national picture are

difficult to make. Moreover, purposive sampling of

schools where teacher leadership is present means

that these schools are by definition not representa-

tive of the population of schools, in many of which

teacher leadership may not be present. However the

study does provide some contemporary cameos of

teacher leadership in action and offers some insights

into this form of professional collaborative action in

schools. Because these schools can be said to be

advanced in terms of the operation of teacher

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leadership within them, they allow us to make some

tentative generalisations to theory with regards to

ways in which teacher leadership can and does exist.

In summary, the case study analysis allowed: an

exploration of teachers understanding(s) of the

concept of teacher leadership; contemporary in-sights into teacher leadership and forms of teacher

collaboration in action; an analysis of the benefits of

teacher leadership to classroom and school im-

provement; an exploration of the conditions that

enhance and support teacher leadership.

Data was collected through semi-structured inter-

views with a diagonal cross section of school staff,

including teacher leaders, classroom teachers, mid-

dle managers, governors and headteachers in each

school and through collection of documentary

evidence such as school development plans and

reports from Ofsted (the quasi governmentalorganisation responsible for school inspection in

England). The analyses reported here focus on the

interview data due to space constraints. Two

researchers were involved in data collection, which

took place in the Spring and Summer terms of 2003.

The interview schedules were based on prior

research into teacher leadership interrogated by

the authors and drew upon existing studies and

instruments (such as Lamberts (1998) framework)

(Harris & Muijs, 2001; Lambert, 1998).

Data was explored using a thematic analysisframework, which allowed emergent themes to be

developed alongside a coding framework which

consisted of a number of predetermined codes in

such areas as school leadership, personal actions,

professional skills and knowledge, collaboration

and change agency. The fieldwork data was

analysed undertaken using constant comparative

method which involves anticipation, immersion,

validation, interpretation and analysis (Becker,

1958). These steps are very similar to the stages of

analysis identified by Parlett and Hamilton (1977).

This four stage analytical strategy based on the

conventions of sociological fieldwork has been used

in a wide range of research and evaluative studies

and will be used by the project to analyse the case

study evidence. Therefore, while an a-priori coding

frame was employed, ongoing generation of new

codes occurred during the coding process, and new

themes emerged during the iterative thematic

analysis process that followed initial coding. There-

fore, some of the findings here accord with priori

codes (an example of these are most of the barriers

to teacher leadership identified), while others can be

counted as emerging themes (such as the five

dimensions of teacher leadership). The Qualrus

software programme was used to code and analyse

the data.

3. Main findings from the study

3.1. Understanding teacher leadership

The research found that teacher leadership was

not a term generally used by those in schools. For

most teachers in the study leadership was not a

word they readily associated with their own

activities, even though many of them were leading

initiatives and developments. However, the project

found that teacher leadership could be a mean-

ingful concept to teachers when it was introduced as

a way of describing professional collaboration orengagement for a specific purpose e.g. developing

new curriculum materials, planning joint teaching

or preparing for peer observation. Teacher leader-

ship for our respondents was connected with

professional initiative and learning, both within

and between schools, focused on improvement at

classroom, department/year group and whole-

school levels.

For example, one teacher reflected:

I would say its either leading a department, a

year team, or making improvements, I imagine.

It doesnt necessarily mean youre a head of

department, or head of year, it could be having

responsibilities in that you have got to make

improvements.

In many cases it appears the question itself

triggered thought about the issue and an acknowl-

edgement that teachers were in shared leadership

roles within the school even though this was not

termed teacher leadership.

The research found that there were five dimen-

sions of teacher leadership, as a form of profes-

sional initiative and learning. The first was shared

decision-making where teachers were given respon-

sibility to make decisions on behalf of the school on

important developmental work. The second was a

form of collaboration in which they operated

collegially for the prime purpose of securing certain

outcomes linked to improving teaching and learn-

ing. The third was active participation where

teachers understood teacher leadership in terms of

being actively involved in core developmental tasks

and being participants in the process of school

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improvement. The fourth was professional learning

in which teachers are learning individually and with

colleagues. The fifth was leadership as activism

where teachers engaged with issues on behalf of the

school in order to directly affect change and

development. Using these five dimensions teacherleadership can be viewed as an organisational

quality generated through particular forms of

teacher interaction and partnership.

3.2. What does teacher leadership look like in

schools?

Using the five dimensions identified above the

research found a wide variety of formal and

informal groupings characterised as teacher leader-

ship. It is clear that the changing educationalclimate in England towards federations, partner-

ships and networks has afforded more opportunities

for teachers to collaborate and has provided a

renewed legitimacy for teacher collaboration. Four

of the schools were involved in external initiatives or

programmes aimed at promoting collaboration.

Two were involved in Networked Learning Com-

munities (NLC), one in the school improvement

programme Improving the Quality of Education

for All (IQEA) and one in Best Practice Networks

(Specialist Schools Trust). These initiatives hadprompted new groupings amongst teachers both

within and across schools. These groupings were

predominantly subject-based or were action re-

search groups with a mandate to undertake devel-

opments or to problem solve in certain key areas for

the school or schools.

In the other case study schools teacher collabora-

tion and networking was not externally driven or

configured. It consisted of informal groupings

between teachers for particular purposes. In one

primary school, for example, teams of 45 teachers

were working to secure improvement in English and

the Arts. This group met regularly to discuss

curriculum, teaching and learning issues, and to

plan developmental work. As a result, the team

produced new materials for Key stages 1 and 2,

which were shared with staff and which formed the

basis of in-service training with other schools. Other

examples include: an initiative by the head of

Modern Foreign Languages to introduce a new set

of methods to improve pupils communication skills

in foreign languages, and a newly qualified business

studies teacher who had successfully set up an

enterprise project involving the whole school in

links with schools in Germany and the US.

There was some evidence that where teacher

collaboration was facilitated by externally funded

projects (i.e. NLCs, IQEA), there were more

opportunities for teachers to meet with each otherboth within schools and across schools. The four

schools involved with these initiatives agreed that

this external support had enhanced teachers profes-

sional initiative and innovation significantly, parti-

cularly through the provision of additional

resources and time. In contrast, those schools

without external support found it more difficult to

provide teachers with time to meet and inevitably

felt that their collaborative efforts were constrained

because of this factor.

4. Teacher leadership and school improvement

The case study methodology employed does not

allow us to make any definitive statements as to

whether or not teacher leadership leads to school

improvement. However, for the majority of respon-

dents in the study teacher leadership was viewed as

positive, and as being a key contributing factor to

school improvement, because it was seen to harness

teacher creativity and devolve work and responsi-

bility from the head. The head of one secondary

school, that had seen strong improvements over the

last 5 years, commented:

The improvements in the school are hugely down

to teachers taking responsibility for leadership.

We (The Senior Management Team (SMT)) cant

do it all ourselves. We can provide the vision, but

at the end of the day, weve got to rely on people

implementing the Numeracy strategy, the Lit-

eracy strategy, and so on.

The evidence points towards a deliberate attempt

by those in formal leadership roles to create the

conditions where teachers felt involved in decision

making and in shaping the future development of

the school.

Last year there was very much an atmosphere of

shared leadershipnatural and organic, happen-

ing when it needed to (advanced skills teacher,

secondary school).

What were trying to do is break down the

hierarchy (advanced skills teacher, primary

school).

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One of the main reasons given for the importance

of teacher leadership in improving schools was the

way it empowered teachers, seen as a key motivating

factor that ultimately improved their performance.

The head of a science department, for example,

stated that:I think to be satisfied in their job, people need to

experience achievement. They need to grow

professionally. Teacher leadership does that for

them. A lot of people want financial rewards or

status, but the self-respect you get from being

better at your job than you were last year is the

key, I believe.

An SMT member in another school said:

If you disempower teachers, you actually end up

creating a blame culture, where people just lookround for other people to poke when things go

wrong. So what I wanted to do was set up a

culture that empowered people.

This view is also reflected by a school governor we

interviewed, who commented

I think its important that people believe they

have something to contribute to any organisa-

tion, be it school or British Rail or whatever.

The fact that teacher leadership allows senior

managers to tap into a larger pool of ideas andsolutions to problems was also seen as a highly

positive outcome of teacher leadership contributing

to improvement. As one head commented:

We cant know everything. Tapping into a range

of views is bound to help us come up with better

ideas, that are often more grounded in daily

practice.

The research found that activities associated with

teacher leadership, for example, teacher collabora-

tion, partnership or professional networking had apositive effect upon teachers morale and teachers

sense of self-efficacy. The evidence from the project

highlighted that where teachers were engaged in

collaborative forms of activity they expressed a high

degree of ownership and involvement in the devel-

opment work of the school. Parenthetically, this was

considered to engender positive feelings of profes-

sional self-worth and to improve motivation levels.

As one teacher summarised:

In the past we were solving problems alone,

working independently. By working together, we

solve problems together and we support each

other. Working this way is not only productive

but an excellent way of feeling valued by others

and good about your own capabilities (Teacher,

Secondary School).

The data also suggested that teachers were morelikely to stay in schools where a culture of teacher

collaboration and leadership exists. The benefits of

working with other teachers and being able to take

on individual initiatives and leadership roles was

identified by four teachers in the study as a major

reason to stay at the school. One teacher, for

example, commented that:

There are no barriers to teacher initiative here. I

would have felt that in other schools. I think

thats one of the reasons I stayed here. Because asa supply teacher I went to many schools and this

was one of the toughest (in terms of pupil intake)

(Teacher, Secondary School).

The research findings suggest that shared leader-

ship can be a positive lever for teacher retention and

recruitment. For example, in two of the schools, the

new members of staff interviewed had chosen the

school primarily because of prior knowledge about

existing opportunities for collaboration and net-

working with other teachers and schools. Allowing

teachers to take initiative and engage in leadershiphas been associated with higher levels of teacher

retention in previous studies in the US, a factor

associated with stronger feelings of empowerment

among teachers and with greater job satisfaction

(Harris & Muijs, 2001). However, for this to be the

case it would seem to be important that leadership

activities of teachers do not substantively add to

workload, identified as a key factor in teacher drop-

out in one recent study (Smithers & Robinson,

2003), and therefore that time is built-in to teachers

workload models to engage in leadership activities.

Research has shown that where teachers are given

significant responsibility for school development

and change, their work can have an impact on

school improvement. There was evidence within this

study of developmental work undertaken by tea-

chers impacting directly on the school and con-

tributing to improvement. For example, a group of

teachers in a secondary school had taken responsi-

bility for developing materials and resources to

support the use of accelerated learning techniques in

different subject areas in Key stage 3. These

materials were made available across the school.

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Departmental evidence and data would suggest that

these materials were making a positive contribution

to the quality of teaching and to learning outcomes.

5. Factors that enhance the development of teacher

leadership

As mentioned above, the case study evidence

points towards positive outcomes associated with

different forms of teacher leadership. The question

then is what conditions need to be met to help the

emergence and maintenance of teacher leadership in

schools. The following main factors were identified

in our case study schools:

1. Supportive culture

2. Supportive structures

3. Strong leadership (i.e. support from the head-teacher, SMT and Governors)

4. Commitment to action enquiry and data rich-

ness

5. Innovative forms professional development

6. Co-ordinated improvement efforts

7. High levels of teacher participation and involve-

ment

8. Collective creativity

9. Shared professional practice

10. Recognition and reward

5.1. Supportive culture

Within each of the case study schools there was

evidence of a culture that supported teacher leader-

ship, collaboration and partnership. The data

suggests that teacher leadership can only be fostered

and nurtured in a culture that is supportive and

where relationships amongst staff are positive. The

degree of trust required for teachers to lead

initiatives, instead of the SMT, is high, and there-

fore in schools where the culture is not collegial the

possibility of teacher leadership is inevitably re-

duced. Teachers in these schools were actively

encouraged to lead initiatives within the school

and it was clear that there was a no blame stance

taken to innovation work that was less successful.

There were processes in place for sharing ideas such

as regular staff meetings, newsletters, away-days

and INSET days plus the mechanisms created by

external initiatives. In most of the schools there was

also evidence of teacher engagement in research

activities and in some aspects of developmental

work through providing feedback or through

collecting different forms of data (photographic,

written, taped). As mentioned above, another

important element of the schools culture was a

high degree of trust. As one subject leader said:

I think trust in this school is very strong, andweve worked hard as a school to develop that.

We had a day closure where we talked about

building learning communities. We went right

back to grassroots and said how do we see

learning, and how do we want the school to be

managed and led to promote learning? (Class-

room Teacher, Primary School).

Heads and senior managers need to trust teachers

to develop initiatives that actually improve the

school, and to exercise sound judgement that has

the interests of pupils and the school at heart.However, trust needs to work both ways. Teachers

need to trust the motives of senior management,

which can sometimes be construed as taking

advantage by asking teachers to do more without

commensurate increases in salary or formal job

position.

Developing trust is therefore a key task within a

school, in which communications play an important

role, rooted as it is in the everyday social interac-

tions between actors in the school. Trust is most

likely to develop in schools were relationships arestrong, in the sense that staff know, or think they

know, one another (Bryk & Schneider, 2003). Trust

can itself be fostered by collaborative school

improvement work, but can also be encouraged

through specific team building activities, which were

undertaken in a number of case study schools.

5.2. Supportive structures

The data showed that favourable cultural condi-

tions for teacher leadership were created through

certain structural arrangements. In schools in the

study there were opportunities to switch roles and

responsibilities. As one head noted:

There are lots of opportunities for staff to move

around in school (post wise).

Regular meetings with the whole school staff,

monitoring meetings with line managers and op-

portunities to meet together to jointly plan new

initiatives were key components in building leader-

ship capacity in the schools. Some teachers sug-

gested that explicit opportunities for reflection

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should be built into the school day. All teachers in

the study had the opportunity to regularly discuss

teaching and learning issues with colleagues. They

also contributed to staff meetings, although some

younger teachers felt that contributions were not

always appreciated or welcome, even in schools thatstrongly encouraged teacher leadership. As one

young teacher commented:

Most of the time you can contribute. But I think

sometimes you do feel uncomfortable cos you

know people will disagree with what youre

saying.

Clear hierarchies were felt to be a facilitator, not a

hindrance, Where structures were unclear, teachers

complained that this hampered their willingness to

take initiative, as they were never sure how their

contribution would be received and on whos toesthey might be treading. As one teacher commented:

I think if roles were more clearly defined it would

be easier. You sometimes get the impression that

you can do something, and then someone says

oh no, you shouldnt have done that.

Encouraging internal promotions and good CPD

opportunities were also seen as contributory factors

to a creating a positive school culture that

supported teacher leadership. What is clear is that

the cultural and structural conditions need to beoptimum for teacher leadership to flourish but that

giving teachers some leadership responsibility is one

way of helping to generate the internal conditions

for change.

5.3. Strong guidance and support from the head

At each of the case study schools there was strong

support and direction from the headteacher and the

leadership team for teacher leadership. This support

was seen as instrumental in ensuring that all staff

were aware of the importance of the work and

cooperated with each other. There was a shared

view that without the support of the headteacher

and other members of the leadership team, these

activities were unlikely to flourish. The research

literature on teacher leadership concludes that the

headteachers support is central to the success of

shared or distributed leadership (Muijs & Harris,

2003). These research findings reinforce this view

and also point towards the need for the support of

Governors, particularly when developments have

school wide implications.

It would be difficult to undertake this type of

work without the support of the head or the

senior team as so much depends on being able to

take other staff with you. Our Governors are also

supportive of our work as they know it is making

a difference (Classroom Teacher).Not only was it the case that for teacher leader-

ship to flourish headteacher support was essential. It

was in fact the case that in the majority of schools

we studied, teacher leadership had started when a

new head arrived at the school and decided to

distribute leadership. It was therefore usually the

head who initiated teacher leadership, and where

this was not the case it seemed harder for teacher

leadership to take root. Where teacher leadership

was not successfully established, heads usually

blamed teacher apathy. However, what appearedto be the case was that rather than apathy, there was

an element of teacher reticence and inexperience.

What this means is that heads, when introducing

teacher leadership, need to take positive steps.

Teachers should be actively encouraged to take on

leadership roles, through involvement in school

improvement teams, giving teachers formal leader-

ship roles, and encouraging teachers to take on

projects either individually or as part of a team.

Active promotion of teacher leadership by senior

management in this way appeared to be the most

effective way of initiating teacher leadership.

5.4. Commitment to action enquiry and data richness

Within each school there was a high degree of

commitment to various forms of action enquiry and

action research. The majority of working groups

were engaged in data collection of some form for the

prime purpose of informing development. Three of

the schools had dedicated their INSET days to

consider action enquiry methods and four schools

were receiving expert input on data collection and

enquiry from external initiatives. In those schools it

was felt that this training had contributed signifi-

cantly to the work of the group and the subsequent

quality of the developmental activities.

As well as being engaged in action enquiry, each

of the case study schools was actively involved in

collecting a wide variety of data. In certain cases,

pupils were also engaged in data collection and

feedback to staff. Data was collected with the prime

purpose of informing subsequent development. In

one school, a group of teachers collected data about

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teacher assessment at KS1. This subsequently was

turned into a best practice guide for teachers at the

school. In three of the schools there was a particular

emphasis upon pupil data and engaging pupils as

researchers. Within these schools, pupils were

involved in collecting data that would contributeto the work of the school improvement groups or

those teachers involved in the NLC.

Use of action inquiry and data to inform the

process was also instrumental in ensuring that

activities undertaken were effective, and did not

merely reflect momentary whims or reactions.

5.5. Innovative forms of professional development

There was evidence within the majority of schools

in the study of innovative approaches to profes-

sional development. While all schools engaged inINSET days these were often led by staff within the

school or by staff from other schools. An emphasis

was placed on knowledge transfer through the

various groupings within and across schools. There

was also evidence of peer tutoring and mentoring

across themes and subject groupings. Essentially,

the models of professional development that were

prevalent across the case study schools were pre-

mised on collective rather than individual learning.

In one primary school, a coaching and mentoring

programme was put in place to help developleadership skills in the members of the newly

constituted senior management team. This pro-

gramme was subsequently expanded to all staff.

Within the school, middle level leaders now work as

mentors for new staff and help them develop their

subject leadership roles.

Another way in which teacher leadership was

encouraged was by involving teachers in profes-

sional development activities that in many schools

they would not participate in. In one school, for

example, teachers were sent to LEA leadership

training events that were normally the preserve of

senior staff.

In summary, there is a high degree of involvement

in leadership development from within the school

and this is considered to be a way of building the

schools leadership capability.

5.6. Co-ordinated improvement efforts

In all cases, teachers and senior staff recognised

the need to co-ordinate the various areas of activity

or developmental work within the school. This was

achieved by regular meetings between the working

groups and the SMT. In these meetings updates on

progress were provided and any resource issues

discussed. In addition, the SMT in each school

carefully monitored the work of the groups and

considered engaging in external initiatives only ifthis complemented their work. For example, one

school became involved in a NLC because it

reinforced what they were already doing and

complemented the leadership approaches that the

school was endorsing.

A key part of this process of coordinating is

developing a shared vision. This is a factor that has

long been found to be an important correlate of

school effectiveness (Reynolds & Teddlie, 2000), but

becomes particularly important where teacher

leadership is introduced. Where leadership is

distributed, there is a danger that staff start tomove in different directions, introducing strategies

and initiatives that lack internal coherence, such as

different teaching methods in different departments.

If teacher leadership approaches were to work

against such coherence they would at best have a

very limited positive impact, and at worst be

detrimental to whole school development. A shared

vision and culture therefore needs to underpin

any effort at distributing leadership and involving

teachers in school management. However, teacher

leadership, and in particular the involvement ofteachers in developing school vision as a collective

exercise itself contributed to this shared vision.

5.7. High levels of teacher participation and

involvement

It was noticeable at each school that the devel-

opment work was not confined to a small group of

teachers. The headteachers made every effort to

ensure there was broad participation and represen-

tation in working groups and in the variousinitiatives. It was clear that teachers had a

temporary membership of working groups or net-

works with the understanding that other members

of staff could step in and take over their activities.

This way staff perceived any new initiative or

development as involving them even though they

might not be involved initially or directly. As one

secondary teacher put it:

There is an emphasis on shifting roles and

responsibilities, that way leadership is constantly

changing and evolving.

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The research found that high levels of engage-

ment and involvement of staff in the developmental

work of the school promoted high levels of self

esteem and a willingness among teachers to engage

with new ideas.

5.8. Collective creativity

The emphasis upon collaboration and mutual

sharing at the school meant that teachers were

encouraged to share ideas and to problem solve

together. The study found that teachers felt that this

way of working together was most likely to generate

a collective creativity that was both innovative and

rewarding. The innovative work in the case study

schools had resulted from the work of groups rather

than individuals and there was a consensus that it

was possible to produce more innovative andcreative work by working collaboratively.

By working with the other members of the NLC

we have been able to generate ideas that would

have been more difficult to reach as an individual

school or as a small group of teachers from one

area (Teacher, Primary School).

5.9. Shared professional practice

One of the main benefits of collaborative ways of

working is knowledge generation and knowledge

transfer. Within the study there was evidence that

teachers were sharing knowledge but also sharing

professional understanding and practice. For ex-

ample, in one case study involved in a Networked

Learning Community teachers from the same

subject had taught in other schools for the prime

purpose of demonstrating certain classroom techni-

ques or pedagogic approaches. This exposure of

professional practice was shown to have a powerful

impact on other teachers and contributed signifi-

cantly to their professional learning.

One of the major benefits of working together is

the possibility of seeing other types of teaching

and learning new techniques and approaches

from teachers with different styles or approaches

(Teacher, Secondary School).

5.10. Recognition and reward

Within each of the case study schools there was a

high degree of support and professional recognition

for the work undertaken. An emphasis was placed

on dissemination both within schools and between

schools. Where possible and appropriate teachers

were rewarded but it was clear that most of the

professional activities were not formally recognised

through external accreditation opportunities. Tea-

chers in the study felt that some form of externalrecognition or accreditation for their efforts would

be very helpful.

While there are intrinsic rewards in the increased

responsibility teachers enjoyed in these schools, and

in the improvements these were seen to generate, it

must not be forgotten that an additional burden of

work and responsibility was being placed on

teachers, that may lead some to feel reluctant to

participate. Actually rewarding and recognising

their efforts may therefore be important particularly

with a view toward sustaining teacher leadership

once the initial burst of enthusiasm has worn off.

6. Barriers to teacher leadership

The study found a wide variety of barriers to the

development of teacher leadership. Three main

categories emerged from the data.

The first of these is the external educational

context. External accountability mechanisms, espe-

cially in low performing schools, put a strong

burden on teachers and on senior management that

makes the distribution of leadership more difficultand more risky.

When youre in the situation we are, just out of

serious weaknesses, with poor exam results, still

below the magical 25% 5 A*-Cs that the DfES

want, your accountability is extremey The

earned autonomy thing, its not helpful. I believe

it should be reversed, all schools get autonomy

until they get themselves into serious difficulties

(Senior Manager, Secondary School).

The proliferation of top-down initiatives emanat-ing from central government was similarly viewed as

stifling teacher initiative and leadership capabilities.

The second barrier relates to teachers capacity to

undertake extra work. The lack of time for

teachers to engage in activities outside of classroom

teaching and administration appears to be a key

inhibitor to teacher leadership, as it is to other

educational initiatives.

One of the big inhibitors is time. They are willing

and they are able, but they have to have a life at

the end of the day (Head, Secondary School).

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Some teachers also feel they are lacking in

experience and confidence when taking on leader-

ship roles. Also according to some SMT members,

teacher leadership is inhibited by general teacher

apathy and a lack of willingness to take on new

responsibilities.Finally, the role of senior managers in some cases

can be seen as a barrier particularly where not all

senior managers are willing to relinquish control,

where leadership from the head is seen as weak, or

where senior managers are poor communicators. In

one school we found that teacher leadership had not

developed as successfully, due in large part to a lack

of communication and somewhat passive approach

to teacher leadership on the part of the headteacher.

While professing support for teacher leadership, the

head did not take any active steps, but waited for

teachers to come forward and take initiatives. Thiswas an unsuccessful approach that left teachers

confused and never allowed teacher leadership to

become embedded. Active approaches, whereby

school improvement teams are deliberately consti-

tuted and teachers given roles, appear essential.

7. Commentary

With the continued focus on transforming educa-

tion through building professional learning com-

munities within schools it would seem that teacherleadership is an idea that is particularly timely.

While some initial work is underway, more work is

required to explore distributed forms of leadership,

including teacher leadership, in much more depth. If

we are serious about building professional learning

communities within and between schools then we

need forms of leadership that support and nourish

meaningful collaboration among teachers. How-

ever, we also need to be cautious about over-stating

and over-claiming the relationship between teacher

leadership and school and student level outcomes.

Despite the assertion by Crowther, Kaagan, Fergu-

son, and Hann (2002, p. 34) that teacher leadership

produces positive school outcomes not enough is

known, at present, about how teacher leadership

influences schools, despite widespread optimism in

the associated literature.

However, there is increasing empirical evidence

concerning professional learning communities. As

Hargreaves (2002, p. 3) notes professional learning

communities lead to strong and measurable im-

provements in students learning. Instead of bring-

ing about quick fixes or superficial change, they

create and support sustainable improvements that

last over time because they build professional skill

and the capacity to keep the school progressing.

There are an increasing number of studies that point

towards the relationship between the establishment

of professional learning communities and deepteacher change (Toole & Louis, 2002, p. 12).

Research has also highlighted that instruction is

more effective in schools that are operating as

professional learning communities (Little, 1982;

Rozenholtz, 1989) and that there is a significant

positive effects on student learning where the norms

of collaboration and teacher professional learning

are in place (Louis & Marks, 1996). Consequently, it

would seem important in future studies to explore

the relationship between teacher leadership and

professional learning communities focusing parti-

cularly on impact measures at school and studentlevel.

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