Being a Teacher Leader

Developing a Culture of Leadership

Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland

National Conference,14 September 2011

Mike Carroll

ObjectivesThe main themes to be explored include:• background to teacher leadership;

• how the University of Glasgow is working with one Local Authority to help support emerging teacher leaders;

• some views from these emerging teacher leaders.

Some key issues• the improvement of teaching quality • the development of forms of leadership which support the enhancement of pedagogic practice

• providing opportunities for career-long professional learning

• changing expectations and demands on teachers

The dominance of leadership• Ambitious Excellent Schools: A Curriculum for

Excellence (SEED, 2004)• Ambitious Excellent Schools: Leadership, A Discussion Paper (SEED, 2005)• How Good is Our School: Journey to Excellence

(HMIe, 2006)• Leadership for Learning (HMIe, 2007)• EIS and Leadership in Schools (EIS, 2010)• Teaching Scotland’s Future (Donaldson, 2010)• Advancing Professionalism in Teaching (McCormac, 2011)• Review of professional standards – leadership from ITE to Headship

The Policy Discourse• Donaldson (2010: 16) Teaching Scotland’s Future: “A culture of initiative and collegiality within which learning is always the prime focus embodies the kind of distributive leadership which is the hallmark of our most dynamic and effective schools. ... There is an urgent need to extend the pool of potential leaders in Scottish schools.”

• McCormac (2011: 8) Advancing Professionalism in Teaching:

“The qualities associated with leadership should be nurtured and developed from the start of a teacher’s career as part of a more collegiate culture which encourages initiative and teamwork.”

(GTCS, 2009)

The ‘Gaps’

A Leadership Continuum?

(Carroll, 2009)

Leadership trajectory?

“Travellers, there is no path, paths are made by walking”

(Antonio Machado)

Teacher leadership• Leadership discourse is normally linked to headship

• Growing literature linked to dispersed leadership (Gronn, 2000; Harris, 2004; Spillane, 2006)

• Teacher leadership is conceptualised 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 (Muijs and Harris, 2007: 112)

• Teacher leadership is the work that teachers do to positively influence other teachers’ instructional practice (Katzenmeyer and Moller, 2001)

Waves of teacher leadership• Teacher as manager (e.g., Principal Teacher): ♦ focused on effectiveness and efficiency of system

• Teacher as specialist (e.g., Development Officer): ♦ focused on team leadership, curriculum

developer and/or staff development

• Teacher as an agent of reculturation:♦ focused on developing collegial working to

bring about improvements in teaching and learning

(Adapted from Silva et al., 2000)

Dimensions of teacher leadership• Able to navigate the structures of schools

• Nurture relationships through professional collaboration

• Stimulate professional growth and a sense of professionalism

• Encourage change in teaching and learning

• Challenge the status quo of classroom practice by engagement in

improvement- focused enquiry

What is teacher leadership?• I think teacher leadership is where a classroom teacher shows leadership qualities through being an expert at teaching and learning in the classroom, and then using this experience, knowledge and skills to help develop others (Teacher 4)

• It’s about experienced, competent teachers becoming actively involved in their school’s improvement plan and being given the opportunity to take some responsibility for the outlined priorities. Teacher leaders don’t wait for things to happen to them but rather they are actively involved in the improvements happening in their school (Teacher 14)

Emergent leaders

Teacher leaders

Middle leaders

Senior leaders

PostgraduateCertificate

PostgraduateCertificate or

Diploma

SQH or Masters

(Leadership)

Local AuthorityQuality Improvement

Participants Headteachers

School Improvement Plan

Professional values and personal

commitments

Professional knowledge and understanding

Professional skills and abilities

Managing Learning and

Teaching

Developing people

Building community

Using resources effectively

Change and improvement

CfE

Improvement focused• Teacher leaders I think will also be involved in developing the curriculum of a department, and will be committed to change/improvement. They should have pupil learning at the heart of what they do and strive to ensure that teaching across the whole school is the best it can be for the pupils

(Teacher 5)

• There are various forms of teacher leadership both formal and informal. Formal leadership roles could be in the form of teachers in a management position or being the named leader for a working party or other school activity. More informal leadership roles could be everyday classroom management and leadership-leading pupils in learning (Teacher 3)

(Carroll, 2011)

The 4 P’s: an ongoing trajectoryLeadership which is:• persuasive in that they seek to persuade others and encourage collaborative engagement;• purposeful and focused as they aim to change some aspect of pedagogic practice;• positional in that they are from the practitioners’ / school’s perspective; and• political in that they aim to change aspects of

colleagues’ professional practice in the school.(Adapted from Clough and Nutbrown, 2002)

Relational focus• Being able to influence a group of fellow teachers in order to achieve some predetermined goal or objective (Teacher 1)

• They are seen to be leaders in their class, department and school. They inspire others to want to do more, to be better. They direct, lead, inspire their school – always focusing on the heart of the matter –

children’s learning (Teacher 10)

Managing change?

Role of HT / SMT• My head teacher has been extremely supportive of me taking on additional responsibilities in my school (Teacher 13)

• The opportunity for acting positions or shadowing PT allows us to widen our experience of leadership. My HT supports the development of leadership skills through trusting staff to lead new projects within the school (Teacher 6)

• Management teams still hold a key role in supporting and monitoring teacher leadership opportunities (Teacher 7)

Collegially working and CPD• Teacher leadership is enhanced and

supported in schools through growing the notion of shared leadership. It is supported through staff CPD, learning communities working together and opportunities for working parties (Teacher 9)

• Cross-curricular work allows a collegiate approach which enhances leadership across the school and when staff are able to talk, discuss and make decisions they are enhancing their leadership qualities (Teacher 12)

Structural constraints• Feeling of being ‘dumped’ on, doing work of others (Teacher 2)

• Many teachers find it difficult enough to perform their day-to-day duties never mind take on extra responsibility (Teacher 7)

• Overload when teachers take on too much and become stressed (Teacher 11)

Barriers constructed by others• Poor management and leadership which seeks to control (Teacher 10)

• Departments, faculties may be protective and not open to learning from the experiences, skills, best practice of teachers from other areas.

There may also be a question of authority, “Who does she think she is trying to tell me how to teach… she’s just a classroom teacher” (Teacher 5)

“There are two lasting bequests we can give our children: One is roots, the other is wings.” (Hodding Carter Jr)

Mike CarrollSchool of Education

Professional Learning and LeadershipUniversity of GlasgowSt Andrew’s Building

11 Eldon StreetGlasgow, G3 6NH

Tel: 0141 330 1655E-mail: mike.carroll@glasgow.ac.uk