Teacher Leadership for Love, Solidarity, and Justice: The Invisibilized and Contested Practices of Teacher Leaders of Color

2021 ◽  
pp. 002248712110519
Author(s):  
Josephine H. Pham
Keyword(s):  
Black Students ◽  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
Teacher Leader ◽  
Teachers Of Color ◽  
Black Leadership ◽  
White Supremacist ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Agents Of Change ◽  
Critical Leadership ◽  
Racial Progress

Despite widespread acknowledgment of teachers of Color as critical agents of change, white supremacist, colonial, and cis-heteropatriarchal ontologies of “teacher leadership” marginalize the counterhegemonic leadership they embody. Guided by critical leadership and feminist of Color scholarship, I develop and employ an embodied raciolinguistic analysis to examine how a Latina teacher leader of Color facilitated organization-wide action in the educational interests of Black students. My analysis demonstrates that her discursive and embodied practices as a non-Black woman of Color and “official” teacher leader were simultaneously (re)constructed as catalysts and hindrance for racial progress within and across social spaces. Grappling with these possibilities and tensions at interpersonal, institutional, and societal scales, she reflexively adapted her practices to recenter Black leadership while facing professional consequences. Arguing for radical social change by amplifying the multi-faceted and contested nature of counterhegemonic teacher leadership, I offer implications to foster the critical ingenuity needed to lead in love, solidarity, and justice for and among communities of Color.

scholarly journals Scaling standards-aligned instruction through teacher leadership: methods, supports, and challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Cassata ◽  
Elaine Allensworth
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Teacher Leaders ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
School Context ◽  
School Level ◽  
Instructional Change ◽  
Teacher Leader

Abstract Background The Common Core Standards for Mathematics and Next Generation Science Standards were adopted by states with the goal of preparing students with knowledge and skills needed for college, careers, and citizenry. Adopting these standards necessitated considerable changes in instructional practice. While teacher leadership is known to be important for instructional change, there is little research that articulates the processes through which that influence occurs, and how contextual factors constrain or support those processes. This paper provides a case study of efforts in the Chicago Public Schools to promote widespread instructional change around standards reform through a teacher leader model using retrospective from 2013 to 2017 interviews with 16 math and science teacher leaders serving grades 6–12, along with quantitative analysis of district-wide data showing patterns of change and professional learning. It builds off prior research to articulate a framework of how teacher leaders promote instructional change. Findings There were five patterns of teacher leader action: inspiring others, sharing with colleagues, working in collaboration, advocating for change, and providing individual support, and an interplay between teacher actions and school-level contextual factors, with some contextual factors more important than others for different types of actions. In particular, sharing and collaborative work were facilitated in schools with designated collaboration time, trusting relationships, and colleagues who were also trained and knowledgeable about the new standards. The degree of collective efficacy the teacher leaders felt seemed to be driven mostly by the presence of other knowledgeable change agents in the school. Conclusions and implications The study adds to the existing literature on teacher leadership by articulating the mechanisms through which teachers exert influence around instructional improvement of their school peers and providing examples of each. Further, the study illustrates how these mechanisms are facilitated or constrained by the larger school context. Together, the articulation of mechanisms and contexts, along with illustrative examples, provides a guide for supporting instructional change through teacher leadership in schools and districts.

scholarly journals Teacher Leadership in Special Education: Exploring Skills, Roles, and Perceptions

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 44-63
Author(s):  
Sylvia Bagley ◽  
Kimmie Tang
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
Special Education Teachers ◽  
Teacher Leaders ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Special Education Teacher ◽  
Teacher Leader ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Diverse Field

Special Education teachers frequently assume formal or informal leadership roles and responsibilities across disciplines (Council for Exceptional Children, 2015a, 2015b). However, despite the increasing attention paid to teacher leadership on an international scale (Wenner & Campbell, 2016), little research exists on the experiences and needs of teacher leaders within the diverse field of Special Education. In this descriptive phenomenological study, we addressed the following questions: 1) What does teacher leadership within the landscape of Special Education look like? 2) How does this work relate to the roles and dispositions laid out in both the Teacher Leader Model Standards (2011) and the Council for Exceptional Children’s Special Education Specialist Preparation Standards (2015a, 2015b)? We found that Special Education teacher leaders primarily demonstrate leadership via support, specifically through the skills of advocacy, facilitating, innovating, and ‘administrating’.

The Role of Teacher Leadership for Promoting Professional Development Practices

2017 ◽  
pp. 958-981
Author(s):  
Patricia Dickenson ◽  
Judith L. Montgomery
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Teacher Leader ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Development Organization ◽  
Pedagogical Choices ◽  
The Status ◽  
Development Approach

This chapter examines the status of teacher professional development in mathematics and explores the role of teacher leadership to promote innovative professional development strategies that sustain the growth and development of an organization. Survey data was collected from teacher leader participants of one mathematics professional development organization to understand how participants' growth and development as a teacher leader not only shaped their mathematics instructional practices, but influenced their choices in leadership roles. Further the authors share how the learning environment and pedagogical choices of the project director supported a teacher-driven professional development approach. Recommendations as well as a model for developing a teacher-driven professional development organization are provided for replication.

The Role of Teacher Leadership for Promoting Professional Development Practices

2016 ◽  
pp. 91-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Dickenson ◽  
Judith L. Montgomery
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Teacher Leader ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Development Organization ◽  
Pedagogical Choices ◽  
The Status ◽  
Development Approach

This chapter examines the status of teacher professional development in mathematics and explores the role of teacher leadership to promote innovative professional development strategies that sustain the growth and development of an organization. Survey data was collected from teacher leader participants of one mathematics professional development organization to understand how participants' growth and development as a teacher leader not only shaped their mathematics instructional practices, but influenced their choices in leadership roles. Further the authors share how the learning environment and pedagogical choices of the project director supported a teacher-driven professional development approach. Recommendations as well as a model for developing a teacher-driven professional development organization are provided for replication.

Teacher leadership: toward a new conceptual framework

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill Harrison Berg ◽  
Bill Zoellick
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Teacher Leader ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Education Leaders ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Teaching Learning

Purpose Conceptual ambiguity about the term “teacher leadership” has retarded development of useful research on this topic. The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework that researchers might utilize to clarify key assumptions embedded in their use of the term “teacher leadership,” enabling members of this research community to better understand and build upon each other’s work and to develop a knowledge base on teacher leadership. Design/methodology/approach In 2016 a community of researchers convened in a conversation about their varied conceptions of teacher leadership. The authors analyzed documentation from this convening to identify key ways in which members’ conceptions of teacher leadership diverged. They then drew upon the teacher–leader research literature and their own experiences with teacher–leader initiatives to propose a conceptual framework that would support researchers to define teacher leadership in ways that meet established criteria for an empirically-useful concept. Findings Four dimensions of teacher leadership that should be referenced in an empirically-useful definition of teacher leadership are: legitimacy, support, objective and method. It is hypothesized that clarifying one’s assumptions about each of these dimensions and providing descriptive evidence of how they are instantiated will address the conceptual ambiguity that currently stymies the accumulation of knowledge in this field. Originality/value This paper presents a framework that can provide a strong foundation for the development of a knowledge base on teacher leadership, which is needed to inform education leaders’ efforts to maximize teachers’ leadership influence as asset for improving teaching, learning and schools.

Teacher Leader Reflections: Definitions, Structures, and Cultures that Promote Teacher Leadership

2018 ◽  
pp. 181-190
Author(s):  
Suzanne Nelson ◽  
P. Erin Lichtenstein ◽  
Ashley Bennett ◽  
Azaria Cunningham ◽  
Jana Hunzicker
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
Teacher Leader

scholarly journals BECOMING A TEACHER: HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE SELF AS A LEADER IS A CLASSROOM

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 513
Author(s):  
Vilma Zydziunaite ◽  
Lina Kaminskiene ◽  
Vaida Jurgile ◽  
Tetiana Ponomarenko
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Continuous Process ◽  
Teacher Professionalism ◽  
Teacher Leader ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Effective Learning ◽  
Self Recognition ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
High Degree

The notion of ‘teacher leader in a classroom’ recently has been shifted. In the past, teacher leadership in a classroom was limited to didactics and expertise. Teachers have long served as ‘executors’, ‘executants’, not ‘leaders’ who are capable to manage the change and co-creation of knowledge within the interaction with students in a classroom. The aim of the study is to provide the descriptive analysis on contemporary research-based development regarding teacher leadership with the focus on concepts such as ‘becoming a teacher’, ‘professionalism of a teacher’, ‘co-creation’ and ‘teacher leadership’. Methods. The study is based on descriptive theoretical analysis. Conclusion. Becoming a teacher is the continuous process and means accepting the chal-lenge of imparting knowledge and guidance and approaching a high degree of ambivalence as it requires great diligence on the part of the teacher to be able to carry out her / his pro-fessional responsibilities. Co-creation is inseparable part of both - becoming a teacher and being a teacher leader as it helps to support the positive teaching-learning relationships and create the effective learning environments. Teacher leadership in a classroom is impossible to implement without self- recognition, which means in teaching practices teacher’s self-awareness.

Penilaian Psikometrik Instrumen Kesediaan Guru sebagai Pemimpin Guru

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lokman Mohd. Tahir ◽  
Rohaya Talib ◽  
Hamimah Mohd Naim ◽  
Mohamad Berhanddin Musah
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Leadership ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Teacher Leaders ◽  
Discriminant Validity ◽  
Secondary School Teachers ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Teacher Leader ◽  
Main Role ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Valid Instrument

The leadership of teacher remains as an essentially topic of educational leadership currently and it becomes teacher’s main role in implementing the school development process. However, there are less studies done in Malaysian schools; even hardly see Malaysian teachers are prepared to be teacher leaders  due to also lack of reliable and valid instrument that measure teacher leadership within Malaysian context. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the readiness of Malaysian teachers to be selected as teacher leaders among other teachers. Secondly, it also aims to measure the reliability and validity of instrument on teacher leadership in the context of Malaysian teachers. A total of 189 secondary school teachers who have more than five years’ experience were selected to be the respondents to answer the 12 items on teachers’ readiness as teacher leaders based on two main constructs such as personal and professional readiness. Finding from the factor analyses (exploratory and confirmatory) indicated that items from the professional and personal readiness constructs have high convergent validity in measuring the relevant teacher leadership. In addition, values from the correlational matrix also indicated high values of discriminant validity. Hence, it was proved that the teacher leadership readiness instrument has high validity and reliability in examining teachers’ readiness as a teacher leader. 

The White Backlash Narrative and the Politics of Racial Dis (Orientation)

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-30
Author(s):  
Aaron Allen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
White Supremacist ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
White House ◽  
Explanatory Framework ◽  
White Backlash ◽  
Saturday Night Live ◽  
Discursive Representations ◽  
Racial Progress

To the degree that Donald Trump represents a disorienting reversal of a supposed state-sponsored promise of neoliberal racial progress typified by the election of the first Black United States president, liberals have been equally committed to reorienting themselves through the explanatory framework of white backlash. This article approaches the white backlash narrative with a healthy skepticism in order to explore its cultural and political uses. Through an analysis of popular discursive representations—a Saturday Night Live sketch, Obama’s first significant political speech since leaving the White House, and two widely read Atlantic articles by Ta-Nehisi Coates—this article critiques the ways in which liberals have sought to rationalize the racially disorienting transition between the Obama and Trump eras through the use of the white backlash narrative. More specifically it argues that in the wake of Trump, the white backlash narrative delimits the Obama era as a period of unfulfilled “post-racial” progress, and the Trump era as a wholly separate, reactionary moment of white supremacy. In so doing, the narrative reaffirms the protection of minoritized populations from formally recognized white supremacist violence in the Trump era, while obscuring neoliberalism’s own regimes of racialized oppression in the Obama era. By revealing such shortcomings of the white backlash narrative, it asks that we envision alternative ways to remember, interpret, and historically index the entanglements between racial neoliberal and white supremacist modalities linking the Obama and Trump eras.

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