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Teacher leadership skills : benefits and implications
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Teacher leadership skills : benefits and implications
Recently a workshop was organised by the Ministry of Education to provide teachers with training in leadership skills. This is a welcome initiative ? the more so when nearly 60% of our primary school children either fail the Certificate of Primary education or pass with poor grades. There is convincing evidence from the literature to suggest that effective leadership skills are key constituents in achieving school improvement. Whilst the quality of teaching strongly influences levels of pupil motivation, interest and achievement, it has been consistently agreed that the quality of leadership matters in determining the interest and motivation of teachers and the quality of teaching.
In many non-European countries, the idea of teacher leadership is particularly well developed. It implies a redistribution of power and a re-alignment of authority within the organisation. It means creating and sustaining the conditions in which teachers work together and learn together, where they construct and refine meaning leading to a shared purpose or set of goals for the benefits of the educational institutions. Evidence would suggest that where such conditions are in place and implemented professionally, leadership is a much stronger internal driver for school improvement, effectiveness and change. What it means is that teachers are empowered to lead.
If the quality of teacher leadership skills matters in determining the interest and motivation of teachers and the quality of teaching in the classrooms, there must be implications for policy makers and practitioners and also for research. Before addressing such implications, what are some of the definitions of teacher leadership and what are its characteristics? How is teacher leadership beneficial to the students and the educational institution?
Definitions and characteristics of teacher leadership</B>
There are several definitions of teacher leadership that clearly delineate the differences from traditional leadership approaches: ?the ability to encourage colleagues to change, to do things they wouldn?t ordinarily consider without the influence of the leader?, ?those who lead within and beyond the classroom, identify with and contribute to a community of teacher learners and leaders, and influence others towards improved educational practice?. In contrast to traditional ideas of leadership, teacher leadership is characterised by a ?form of collective leadership in which teachers develop expertise by working collaboratively?.
The distinctive nature of the leadership activity can be explained as follows: (i) leadership of students or other teachers, (ii) leadership of operational tasks: keeping the school organised and moving towards its goals, and (iii) leadership through decision making or partnership with others, there are four discernable and discrete dimensions of the teacher leadership role. The first dimension concerns the way in which teachers translate the principles of school improvement into the practices of individual classrooms.
A second dimension of the teacher leader role focuses upon ?participative? leadership where all teachers feel part of the change. Teacher leaders may assist other teachers to cohere around a particular development and to foster a more collaborative way of working. They work with colleagues to shape school improvement efforts and take some lead in guiding teachers towards a collective goal.
A third dimension of teacher leadership in school improvement is the ?mediating? role. Teacher leaders are important sources of expertise and information. They are able to draw critically upon additional resource and expertise if required and to seek external assistance. Finally, a fourth and possibly the most important dimension of the teacher leadership role, is forging close ?relationships? with individual teachers through which mutual learning takes place.
There are still others who have identified further dimensions of the teacher leadership role such as undertaking action research, instigating peer classroom observation, or contributing to the establishment of a collaborative culture in the school. Of these roles, the mentoring, induction and continual professional development of colleagues are considered crucial.
Benefits of teacher leadership skills</B>
Benefits of teacher leadership skills are varied and many and can be summarised as follows: raising and improving school performance, making teachers effective and contributing to the school effectiveness.
<B>Raising and improving school performance</B>
Working in collaboration with other teachers has been found to be a necessary concomitant of school improvement and change as well as a contributory factor to school effectiveness. The shared goals and values at the core of teacher leadership are also an important influential factor in generating effective schools. Where teachers are placed in leadership positions they are able to contribute more directly to organisational effectiveness and improvement. Some authors suggest that schools need to move from a hierarchical structure towards a more democratic model, in which teachers can directly influence development and change. Research studies in British secondary schools have shown that teachers generally felt that leadership was more effective where subject leaders and department heads were more strongly involved in decision making. Similarly it was found that in the most effective schools, leadership was a shared responsibility of teachers and heads. Other studies have also reported positive effects of teacher participation in decision making: a decrease in teacher absenteeism and an increase in school effectiveness. In schools with strong collaborative teacher-principal leadership there was evidence of significant gains in pupil learning and achievement.
<B>Making teachers effective</B>
Effective schools place emphasis upon the teaching and learning processes. Of all the school level characteristics, it is those that relate to teaching that have the most empirical support. It is those factors that are most immediately experienced by students (i.e. teachers? behaviour in the classroom) that will most immediately affect student achievement. Teacher leadership can improve teacher effectiveness in a number of ways. The emphasis on continuous learning and excellence in teaching can improve the quality of teachers, while the emphasis on spreading good practice to colleagues can lead to increasing the expertise of teachers throughout the school. The increased expertise and confidence of teachers, coupled with the greater responsibilities vested in them, will make teachers more willing to introduce innovative teaching methods.
Teacher leadership research has explored the effects of school and teacher leadership on students? engagement with school. The findings suggest that teacher leadership explained more variation in student learning and had an important influence on teacher effectiveness. Its conclusions were that teacher leadership far outweighs principal leadership effects before taking into account the moderating effects of family educational culture.
Another study found that when teachers took on leadership roles it positively influenced their ability to innovate in the classroom and had a positive effect on student learning outcomes. Some studies have found that taking on leadership roles can improve teacher motivation and confidence in their own abilities and had taught them to motivate, lead and encourage other adults leading to improved self-confidence, increased knowledge, and an improved attitude to teaching among teachers.
<B>Contributing to school effectiveness</B>
Several research studies have demonstrated that teachers work most effectively when they are supported by other teachers and work collegially.
Building the capacity for school improvement necessitates paying careful attention to how collaborative processes in schools are fostered and developed. Where teachers feel confident in their own capacity and in the capacity of their colleagues, and in the school to promote professional development, school improvement is more likely to occur. Building the capacity for school improvement will mean extending the potential and capabilities of teachers to lead and to work collaboratively. Descriptions of how leaders provide opportunities for teachers to participate in decision and lead in school development highlight the following structuring behaviours: (i) sharing the responsibility and power for leadership widely throughout the school, (ii) sharing decision making power with colleagues, (iii) allowing colleagues to manage their own decision making, (iv) taking colleagues opinion into account, (v) ensuring effective group problem solving during meetings of staff, (vi) giving autonomy for teachers, (vii) changing working conditions so that staff has collaborative planning time, (viii) ensuring adequate involvement in decision making related to new initiatives in the school and (ix) creating opportunities for staff development.
The main goal of the school is to foster student learning and this can be best aided by teachers modelling this activity themselves. It is posited that teacher leadership necessitates moving away from traditional top-down management and getting teachers to take responsibility and to accept levels of accountability. This means teacher leadership needs to be made available to all; otherwise some teachers will end up as leaders, while others will be merely technicians, creating a two-tier system.
Disadvantages of teacher leadership</B>
There is a body of evidence to suggest that teacher leadership skills have a positive effect on the individual teacher and the school. However, there are indications that there are some disadvantages that need to be overcome for genuine teacher leadership activity.
Teachers taking on leadership roles can sometimes be ostracised by their colleagues. Sometimes teachers felt less connected to peers when engaging in teacher leadership activities. While teachers are happy to acknowledge a hypothetical ?master teacher?, they are less inclined to accept their colleagues in leadership positions.
Teacher leadership may not occur unless it is underpinned by shared values. Shared values are developed first and foremost through shared (pedagogical) discussion, observation and team teaching. Hence, it is crucial that teacher leaders work in collaborative teams in order for them to make a difference to the school. Teacher leadership programmes too often end up as an individual task by teachers. Research confirms that teacher leadership not only flourishes most in collaborative settings, but one of the tasks of the teacher leader should be to encourage the creation of collaborative cultures in school.
One of the main disadvantages of teacher leadership concerns the ?top down? leadership model that still dominates in many schools. The possibility of teacher leadership in any school is dependent upon whether the senior management team within the school relinquishes real power to teachers and the extent to which teachers accept the influence of colleagues who have been designated as leaders in a particular area.
For the initiatives to be successful, heads need to become leaders of leaders, striving to develop a relationship of trust with staff, and encouraging leadership and autonomy throughout the school. For teacher leadership to develop, heads must also be willing to allow leadership from those who are not part of their ?inner circle?, and might not necessarily agree with them. Teachers are also more likely to take on leadership roles if there is already a culture of shared decision making in the school.
<B>Development of teacher leadership skills</B>
Head teachers play a key role in developing teacher leadership skills. To identify, develop and support teacher leaders in their schools, head teachers need to encourage teachers to become leaders, help teachers develop leadership skills and provide positive and constructive feedback. Similarly, head teachers need to create the infrastructure to support teacher leadership. This type of work highlights the importance of head teachers creating opportunities for teachers to lead, to build professional learning communities and to celebrate teacher expertise and innovation.
Development and supporting teacher leadership in schools therefore has a number of important dimensions. Firstly, time needs to be set aside for professional development and collaborative work. Making time for planning together, building teacher networks, and visiting classrooms is important. The consequences are that teachers end up with decreased time for lesson planning and preparation once they undertake leadership roles and that this is considered to be detrimental. Having time ?freed up? for teacher leadership tasks is a crucial element of success. The factors for successful teacher leadership include skills in communication, administration and principal support, a re-examination of traditional patterns of power and authority in school systems and an understanding of organisational culture.
There must be formal training programmes for teacher leaders ready and widely available to include leadership skills. Heads and teachers should be educated together, breaking down the boundaries between the two forms of leadership to prepare all school staff for participation in truly democratic school structures.
How far teacher leadership is successful within a school is heavily influenced by interpersonal factors and relationships with other teachers and the school management team. The ability of teacher leaders to influence colleagues and to develop productive relations with school management, is therefore vital. Hostility to teacher leaders can arise through factors such as inertia, over cautiousness and insecurity. The results might lead teacher leaders to often experience conflict between their leadership responsibilities and their need for affiliation and belonging to their peer group. Overcoming these difficulties will require a combination of strong interpersonal skills on the part of the teacher leader and changes to the school culture that encourage change and leadership from the practitioners.
As a consequence, another dimension of preparing teacher leaders is the need to equip them with good interpersonal skills which could involved the following: (i) building trust and rapport with colleagues, (ii) undertaking organizational diagnosis through data collection, (iii) understanding and managing change processes, (iv) utilizing resources (people, equipment) in the pursuit of common goals, managing their work, (vi) building skills and confidence in others, (vii) helping other teachers (viii) developing high-level skills in the areas of expertise (strong pedagogical and subject knowledge), collaboration (working with other teachers), reflection on their own practice and empowerment of themselves and others and (ix) providing some kind of remuneration.
Implications</B>
This research review suggests that teacher leadership is inextricably linked to teacher learning. As a result, there are important implications/consequences for the education family.
It has been established that teacher collaboration and mutual learning are centrally important to teacher leadership. The implication of teacher leadership for schools resides around generating the possibilities and expectation of collaboration. For schools, the implications for developing teacher leadership concern the provision of time plus support for research and enquiry. If teachers are to collaborate they must be given time and support in order to achieve this most effectively and efficiently. Similarly, structural barriers should be removed to ensure that there are opportunities for teachers to work together outside their subject areas.
From the above review, it is very clear that teacher leadership has the potential to directly and positively impact upon school improvement. There is also evidence to show that where teachers work collaboratively and where leadership responsibilities are devolved, teachers? expectations, morale and confidence are significantly enhanced.
There are implications for policy makers. It has to do with issues of teacher professionalism, recruitment, retention and performance. While there are no immediate answers to the current problems facing the teaching profession, there are certain conditions that have served to exacerbate the present situation. For example, a lack of time for collaboration and shared teaching, a focus on attainment rather than learning and limited opportunities for research and reflection. In stark contrast, the teacher leadership literature highlights collaboration, learning, artistry and reflection as being at the core of professional learning and teachers? professionalism. Implicit within teacher leadership is the notion of empowerment as teachers are given the responsibility and authority to act. Also, inherent in teacher leadership is the establishment of professional community and an agreement about professional accountability. Where teachers are prepared for and engaged in leadership activities, there are opportunities for professional development and growth that reinforce teachers? self-esteem and sense of self-efficacy. From the viewpoint of the policy maker, teacher leadership offers one way of engaging the profession in activities that are most likely to signal recognition, lead to reward and demonstrate trust in teachers to build their own professional learning communities within the educational institutions.
<I>A study found that when teachers took on leadership roles, it positively influenced their ability to innovate in the classroom and had a positive effect on student learning outcomes. Some studies have found that taking on leadership roles can improve teacher motivation and confidence in their own abilities.</I>
In a nutshell, teacher leadership offers policy makers a way of engaging teachers in a meaningful and timely debate about professionalism and issues of professional conduct. All teachers have the skills, abilities and aptitude to lead and should be trusted to do so.
What should be the next steps for policy makers? There are several: (i) investigate models of effective teacher leadership within the Mauritian context and identify exemplars of good practice, (ii) share and disseminate the principles of good practice with schools and teachers and (iii) evaluate the impact of introducing models of teacher leadership into different school contexts with a view to judging the effect upon teachers? professionalism and morale and also on the student?s performance.
Despite the fact that there are highly beneficial effects of teacher leadership upon schools and students, there is a relative absence of research that has explored the nature and impact of teacher leadership within Mauritian schools. Research should focus not only on teacher professionalism, collegiality, reflection and continuing professional development but also should take account of the models of leadership required to generate and sustain teacher learning and growth. Consequently, research is required that collects empirical evidence about teacher leadership in action, generates different models of teacher leadership, provides evidence of impact and effectiveness, illuminates good practice and offers schools and teachers a clear insight into the possibilities and practicalities of promoting this form of leadership in schools and colleges.
Conclusion</B>
There is conclusive evidence in this research review to indicate the benefits to teachers and heads of acquiring teacher leadership skills. Put into practice what was learnt at the training workshop and the consequences and impact could be enormous. Use it for rhetoric and record purposes and the result would be not world class quality education but world class propaganda.
<B>Dr Seeookumar CHUMUN</B>
References</B>
Barth, R. (1999). </B><I>The Teacher Leader. Providence, Rhodes Island </I>Foundation.
<B>Hopkins, D.(2001). </B><I>School Improvement for Real, London Falmer Press</I>
<B>MacBeath, J. (1998). </B><I>Effective School Leadership, Paul Chapman Press.</I>
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