Who is a teacher-leader? How can teacher leadership be defined? What are the qualities and characteristics of teacher leaders?

University Degree Business and Administrative studies

Dwight A. Moncur T131 Prof. K. Boles May 9, 2001 Final Paper

THE QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISITICS OF TEACHER LEADERS

Teacher leaders are scholar-activities who use research to improve classroom instruction and the school system as a whole. The position: Teacher leaders have specific characteristics and qualities and unless such characteristics and qualities exist in the individual, he/she is not a teacher leader. The selected teacher leadership issue for analyzes is “who are teacher leaders?” Some students in writing their teacher leadership interview papers concluded that the particular teacher interviewed was not a leader. By what basis did certain individuals come to this conclusion. Someone else writing the paper might have seen the individual clearly as a teacher leader because his/her understanding and perception of teacher leadership is different from that of the opponent. This paper provides a measuring stick for students and faculty in knowing whether a teacher should end up on the teacher leadership contact list or not. This paper draws heavily on the course readings. It indicates my theoretical understanding of the issue being tackled. First, I examine the debate surrounding the definition of a teacher leader. The second portion of the paper explains characteristics and qualities of teacher leaders evidenced through the readings. The conclusion goes beyond the readings by arguing that teacher leaders should be identified through structural frames as well as qualitative and quantitative measures; arguing that teacher leadership can be negative as well as positive; and arguing that evaluative measures must be placed on teachers who call themselves teacher-leader. Overall, the paper serves as a measuring stick for teacher leaders.

Defining Teacher Leadership

Teacher leadership means different things to different people. Defining teacher leadership is not a simply thing. The Teachers Who Lead author indicated that Ted, Gwen and Mary, and the other teachers interviewed all gave different definitions of teacher leadership. The author mentioned that everyone was vague. In Chapter 6 the author discussed Multiple Interpretations of Leadership. The teachers at Ted’s school defined teacher leadership in terms of the traditional roles with which they were familiar – union representatives, department heads, and committee chairs. Yet there was a consensus from the teachers that Ted provided enormous leadership in the building, even though he did not hold any of the formal positions they had mentioned. Ted provided leadership as an instructor in the course he offered the staff. He provided leadership by sharing what he gleaned in his travels around the country. He provided leadership in curriculum development. He provided excellent public relations for the teachers. Gwen’s colleague defined teacher leadership as having “the power to influence policy, curriculum and procedures within the individual school and the school district . . . responsibility for instruction of children, peers, evaluation of their peers and of administrators to influence what happens in schools”(p.492). Mary’s colleagues define a teacher leader as one “who has the guts to follow his/her own principles . . . who is recognized for having some expertise in the art of teaching and is able to share that with others . . .”(p.510). Ted and Mary focused on instructional roles while Gwen spent more time doing administrative kinds of work. Their collaborative teacher working relationships took one of three forms – mentoring, division of labor, and partnering. Teachers Who Lead showcased three case studies on Ted Newton – the entrepreneurial teacher, Gwen Ingman - a teacher leader in a principal’s model, and Mary Jones - a reflective teacher leader. Sonja Harding defined teacher leadership as “learning to work as a team and sharing classroom strategies”. (Simmons Lettre 2001) “The purpose of leadership is to improve practice and performance” (Richard Elmore 1999-2000). Teacher leaders come in all “shapes”, “colors”, and “sizes”. Teacher leaders function and present themselves in varied, distinct, and diverse ways. The readings indicate teacher leaders assume multiple roles as political actors, educational pioneers and entrepreneurial role models.

The Characteristics and Qualities of Teacher Leaders

Teacher leaders have high expectations of students regardless of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. Teacher leaders have a genuine interest in the well being and success of students. Even when children come from ethnically disadvantaged backgrounds expectations are high. Cherly Thigpen, “The Veterans”, compared her philosophy of teaching and students as distinct from that of many teachers. She had high expectations of her students and did not give lenience to them because of their race, black. “My philosophy of education is: ‘Johnny’s got one strike against him already because Johnny is black. So when he comes to school he is going to read whether he wants to or not, . . .”. Edouard Plummer, “The Veterans” held high expectations of his students. He saw them as capable and showed a principal that they could be adequately prepared and pass examinations for admission in prep schools in New England/Boston. As stated, “We have to overcome the impression that black boys can’t be scholars”(107). Cynthia Ballenger also had high expectations of her students and did not label them as incapable of the best because of their ethnic background. Ballenger notes educational professionals labeled them as “wild”, having “no language”, and having “depressed mothers”. Instead, Ballenger viewed her Haitian students as responsive, intelligent children, with mothers who were perhaps homesick. Haycock in her article “Good Teaching Matters…A Lot” provided evidence to indicate that poverty is no excuse for student failure. Haycock notes “that poor and minority youngsters will achieve at the same high levels as other students if they are taught at those levels” (126). Collins (Black Teachers on Teaching) felt that teachers did not expect him to be a successful student. Williams (Black Teachers on Teaching) expressed that while at Princeton she always felt she had to prove herself to faculty and to the white students, as she suspected they thought black students were intellectually inferior. Williams noted she was overly concerned with teaching basic skills. As Williams states “If the white middle-class students don’t know grammar, it is likely to be overlooked, but if poor black students make grammatical mistakes, more than likely it will be seen as a language deficiency or lack of native intelligence”(p.186). Anyon even exposed the historically held beliefs that students of higher social classes be exposed to legal, medical, or managerial knowledge, while those of the working classes be offered a more “practical” curriculum. Anyon noted a social stratification as identified through the curriculum of the schools she examined. Collins, Anyon, and Williams all point to the challenge to have high expectations of students and the positive results that come about from such.

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Teacher leaders have high expectations of themselves exemplified through choosing textbooks and instructional materials; shaping the curriculum; setting standards for student behavior; deciding whether students are tracked into special classes; designing staff development and inservice programs; setting promotion and retention policies; deciding school budget; evaluating teacher performance; selecting new teachers; and selecting new administrators. (Barth 1999) John has not been denied decision-making power and he makes the decisions. Decisions that directly affect his work – textbooks and curriculum, assessment, scheduling, class placement, assignment of specialists, allocation of budget and materials – are made by John not be some “experts” at higher levels. (Moncur 2001 Teacher Leader Paper) (Boles and Troen 1998) Tied in with having high expectations of themselves is the whole matter of accountability. Teacher leaders preach and practice accountability. John, the teacher I interviewed, is clearly a teacher leader because he desires an accountability system amongst teachers. Not only that he is devoted to exercising and fostering accountability amongst teachers. Real teacher-leaders hold themselves “accountable - to each other and to . . . students”(Evans 1985). John mentioned that “it is almost impossible for a teacher to get fired”. John’s vision is that “there would be a better accountability system in the school system”. High expectations also involves a desire to remain in the profession. Teacher leaders love their profession and try to remain in it in spite of the various hurl blocks that exist. John, teacher leadership interviewee, has no plans to leave the profession. From the readings we see competent, skilled, and effective teachers who merely see their teacher career as a transition toward something “better”. Teachers also apply the belief of high expectations of themselves to the high amount of hours they devote to the profession. Teacher leaders go above and beyond the time constraints of the school day. The teachers from the articles were certainly not the 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. teachers most of us know and some of us are. Ted manages an enormous workload and an exhaustive schedule. He works 10 hour days between the school and office, and then works evenings correcting papers, writing for professional journals, creating his own curriculum guides, and corresponding with board members, fellow teachers, or policymakers. For all of Gwen’s responsibilities in her school she was paid a regular teacher’s salary. Gwen held major leadership roles in her life outside school in a church and social organization. Mary spent long hours at work. She seldom left the school before 5 PM, she worked most evenings and part of the weekend as well. Mary and Barbara would go home to eat, to plan for the next day, and to review student work. “Mary frequently rallied against the traditional union stance – no more pay/no more work which she heard from some of the teachers with whom she worked. Her belief was that she was a professional and, as such, had a professional responsibility to put in as much time as was necessary for her to do her very best”(p.526).

Teacher leaders are multicultural in their instruction. Teacher leaders give an account of disenfranchised groups in subject lessons. Such would do well to promote self-esteem amongst ethnic-racial minorities. Collins always addressed the perspectives of colored people in his social studies lessons. He refused to have his colored students learn about themselves from a deficit point of view. Anyon discovered potentially controversial subjects were not or hardly ever address in the social studies classes and text of the working class schools. Anyon further notes that many of the text books give little information on the contributions of working class people to history. Furthermore, teacher leaders engage students in the richest types of learning experiences possible; not just the basic classroom teacher centered instruction. Williams taught her students as if they were a part of the “Affluent Professional School” as described in Anyon’s article. Williams mentioned community involvement and the various active participatory methods she had her students engage in. Things such as “individual discovery and creativity” (Anyon, p.17,23). Collins addressed “touchy” issues just as the affluent school did. “It discussed at length such topics as social class, the power of dominant ideas, and competing world views” (Anyon, p.19). Deal, Anyon, and Collins address the challenge to be reactionary and proactive teachers; as well as teachers who critically assessed the curriculum. In fact, Deal writes about breaking the cultural norms.

Teacher leaders understand, adapt to and change school culture. I would define school culture as a set of beliefs the members (teachers, administrators, students, staff) of the school hold about their school, beliefs they have inherited and passed on to their successors. Professor Boles mentioned (lecture 2001) we see the goal of the teacher is to make choices strategically. Teachers look at and understand the culture that surrounds the school. Schein (1985) Organizational Culture and Leadership believes leaders create organizational culture. Therefore, it goes to reason that teacher leaders can create organizational culture. Barney B. (lecture 2001) discussed the four rules of change: language, artifacts, people, and enactment. Schein (1985) examines interactive complexity where in I deduced that the key to teacher leadership success is skillful leaders who are able to balance their own and the organization’s (school’s) purposes. The teacher leader seeks to: determine in what ways the school is unique and in what ways it resembles other schools, identify who yields influence on and off campus, assess the quality of the chief administrators, and scan the environment for signals of things in need of attention. A true teacher leader is wise to read everything he/she could find on the school, study the history, and speak with colleagues. Susan Johnson was actively involved in changing the culture of her school to bring about greater gains in student learning. She wrote a proposal for a drop out prevention program and obtain funding from the Department of Education. (Molly Meltser 2001) Teacher “leaders lead by exemplifying the values and behaviors they want others to adopt” (Elmore 1999-2000). Not only do teacher leaders understand culture but they are adaptable or they can adapt to diverse school settings. A true teacher leader should be effective in a predominantly minority and economically disadvantaged community as well as in a majority economically strong community. Furthermore, sometimes teacher leaders have culturally radical beliefs and/or cultural radical reform agendas. The Collins article and the Anyon article pointed to the advantages, disadvantages and challenges of capitalism versus socialism. Collins holds culturally radical beliefs expressed as “I believe that socialism would be better system for organizing society” (p. 179) Anyon discusses several merits, challenges or problems of capitalism, noting that to be a capitalist one must actually exploit others. Sonja Harding acknowledged that her teaching is unorthodox. She uses Ebonics and Standard English and teaches the children to adapt to both. (Simmons Lettre 2001)

A true teacher leader is serious about “creating communities that foster interdependency” (Cook 1995, p.41). Barth (1999) writes about opportunities for teacher leadership. These opportunities come about through leading by following, joining the team, leading alone, or/and leading by example. John said “leadership roles come about through interdisciplinary work”. Many opportunities exist in the school for teachers to assume leadership. “Many teachers work together as a team, therefore, in that case some leadership takes place” (John 2001 Interview). Cook (1995) speaks of teachers as being team players. John is a team player because throughout the interview he mentioned working with others as a team. Leadership has often been defined in terms of the individual but a true leader garners the respect and participation of other teachers in the school with projects that they have a vision for. John always provides strategies for teacher collaboration. Sonja Harding defines teacher leadership as “sharing what you know and what you do best and sharing with the community”. (Lettre 2001) Susan recognized that change agents can only be productive when they have the support of others: “Corporate entrepreneurs acquire their power through mobilizing others as collaborators; they are not ‘solo artists’” (Melster 2001) (Kanter 1984)

Teacher leaders don’t allow the views and perceptions of them by colleagues to hinder their performance. Whether they are accepted with positive or negative emotions they still persist to function. Boles and Troen note “Teaching is not a profession that values or encourages leadership within its ranks”(p.555). In the Teachers Who Lead case studies degrees of ambivalence or hypocrisy toward teacher leadership roles existed. Teachers characterized Ted as a strong supporter, an indifferent colleague, the local Association representative, and a nonsupporter. “Ted did not hold a formal role and so did not challenge the traditional egalitarian ethos of teaching – his work was not affecting the class size of his colleagues, nor did he have a title nor privilege within the school system” (491). Ted was perceived by his colleagues as a leader yet managed to avoid the professional jealousy that usually accompanies such recognition. Ted’s leadership role was entirely of his own making. The staff admired Gwen’s organizational skills and personal efficiency. Her experience put her in good stead with other teachers. Some teachers believed that Gwen was providing meaningful support for other teachers. Yet they all thought Gwen was in an awkward position as she functioned as an arm of the principal. Gwen’s position was created by the administration. One teacher referred to Gwen as “Vivian’s gopher”(p.504). Many teachers resented the fact that Gwen had the authority to come into their classrooms. Yet most said she handled it very well by being supportive and positive. Teachers engaged in overt compliance with the teacher leadership role then engaged in covert resistance. Mary felt that the staff felt the full spectrum of emotion toward her position from curiosity to jealousy. Mary’s Instructional Support Teacher program encountered some resistance form the regular classroom teachers. Some teachers felt that Mary’s current position did not provide adequate leadership for them in particular. Mary created the position she held. Teachers felt that by inviting the IST (Mary) into their classroom, it was a kind of admission of weaknesses, of inability to handle their own classroom. Although in many cases teachers respond negatively to teacher leaders Hargreaves discusses how vital a culture of cooperation, cohesion, mentoring and support are to a first year teacher as in the case of Paula. Lampart worked in a school that valued teacher leadership through experimentation with regard to the relationship between the university and school. At Acklins Central Secondary School in The Bahamas, students and most teachers recognized the Ahmads as leaders. Most teachers seemed receptive to the Ahmads. Perhaps they experienced tension from those teachers that had near equal years of teaching and age. But most of the young teachers were quite receptive and appreciated their admonitions. (Moncur 2001 Teacher Leadership Experiences) Barth discusses an impediment to teacher leadership that is, “colleagues” exemplified through inertia, caution and insecurity, and personal and interpersonal skills.

Teacher leaders pick up the administrative slack. In some ways principals fail to carry out certain administrative duties. Reflecting on teacher leadership experiences in The Bahamas sometimes it appeared as if things would not get done if teachers didn’t take the initiative themselves. One teacher initiated or formed many extracurricular activities. Another teacher organized the students for major school events. In a small school like Deep Creek Primary, these were responsibilities that belonged to the principal but these teachers did not sit idly by. They took charge and took a stand. In this way the day to day activities of the school went on even when the principal was laxed concerning his duties. John mentioned that “many times someone just steps up to the plate. There is somewhat of a fair trade off between teachers.” John sees the need and takes the opportunity.

A teacher leader is a life long learner in the principles of leadership. Furthermore, teacher leaders value and make use of opportunities for professional development without prompting from a higher authority. A teacher leader engages in systematic study of leadership, study of the teaching profession, societal and economic issues, research in modifying institutional behavior, etc. “Improvement requires continuous learning, both by individuals and groups” (Elmore 1999-2000). Roger Cally has participated in the Boston Writing Project since 1986. (Patricia Manhard 2001) Sonja Harding communicates with doctoral students and professors to learn the latest ideas that may be applicable to her classroom. She attends professional development seminars and participates in a teacher research group. (Lettre 2001)

Teacher leaders are mentors. John states “mentoring relationships take place but it is very informal”. Teacher leaders engage in an intense, dyadic relationship in which the mentor furthers the professional and personal development of the protégé providing information, assistance, support and guidance. The mentoring relationship is usually organized around supportive activities, such as: observation (visiting each other's classroom); demonstration (coaching); conferencing (feedback); and, joint preparation. (Collaborative Group May 3, 2001) Susan believes the school structure must change to give veteran teachers time off to work with their colleagues. She states American schools should pattern themselves after the Japanese model ‘“where there’s a lot more collaborative time for teachers to plan together and to work together”’ (Meltsner 2001)

Going Beyond the Readings

Defining/Explaining/Describing Teacher Leadership

Teacher leadership should be defined within the context of frames or orientations. In the article “Teacher Leader” Phi Delta Kappa Barth (1999) answers the question, What is teacher leadership? Barth presents the reader with several indications of teacher leadership. Barth views the ten indicators as the domains in which teacher leadership is most needed and least seen. In my opinion Barth’s approach in defining teacher leadership is lacking. Barth fails to take into account intrinsic or qualitative measures of teacher leadership, furthermore, his definition is too long and needs to be more concise. Teacher leadership is more than designing curriculum, etc. According to Barth (1999) teacher leaders never constitute more than 25% of the faculty. I would like to think it is much higher than this. It’s just that some teacher leaders are more outstanding than others are.

As I understand the conception of school-organizations and the task of school leaders it becomes clear to me that teacher leadership can be defined or broken down in terms of leadership orientations or frames.

Some teachers would be most clearly defined as Structural teacher leaders. Structural teacher leaders emphasize rationality, analysis, logic, facts, and data. They are likely to believe in the importance of clear structure and well developed management systems. A good teacher leader is someone who thinks clearly, makes good decisions, has good analytic skills, and can design structures and systems that get the job done.

Teacher leaders pick up the administrative slack.

Human Resource teacher leaders emphasize the importance of people. They endorse the view that the central task of leadership is to develop a good fit between people and schools. They believe in the importance of coaching, participation, motivation, teamwork, and good interpersonal relations. A good teacher leader is a facilitator and participative leader who supports and empowers others. The human resource orientation is my strongest orientation.

Teacher leaders create “communities that foster interdependence”.

Political teacher leaders believe that leaders live in a world of conflict and scarce resources. The central task of leadership is to mobilize resources needed to advocate and fight for the school’s goals and objectives. Political teacher leaders emphasize the importance of building a power base: allies, networks, coalitions. A good teacher leader is an advocate and negotiator who understands politics and is comfortable with conflict.

Teacher leaders understand, adapt to and change school culture and sometimes promote culturally radical beliefs and/or culturally radical reform agendas.

The Symbolic teacher leaders believe that the essential task of leadership is to provide vision and inspiration. They rely on personal charisma and a flair for drama to get people excited and committed to the school mission. A good teacher leader is a prophet and visionary, who uses symbols, tells stories and frames experience in ways that give people hope and meaning.

Teacher leaders are mentors.

Every teacher leader will be stronger in one orientation (structural, human resource, political or symbolic) more than another will. However, all the orientations should be a part of the life and practice of every teacher leader.

The Readings Fail to Address Negative Teacher Leadership

All articles written on teacher leadership fail to mention that leadership can be both a positive and negative thing. There is negative teacher leadership and positive teacher leadership. As for negative aspects of teacher leadership I noted this in some schools I taught at during my five years of teaching. Some teachers served to indiscreetly usurp the principal’s authority. Some teachers in some ways served to malign the reputation of the principal by spreading false gossip throughout the settlement. Some teachers challenged the principal’s authority by outrightly operating outside the parameters of the school. There was a teacher who seemed to think she could do what she wanted when she wanted. One teacher I remember would study for her weekend classes during the lesson when she should have been teaching.

Evaluation of Teacher Leaders

Teacher leaders should be evaluated just like in other professions. Leadership in some respects needs to be formalized and structuralized just as in the medical and other professions. Benchmarks of teacher leadership must be identified. If a teacher leader fails to meet set criteria of evaluation such title should be removed from them.

Only when teachers are owners and investors in the school, rather than mere tenants can teachers be called professionals. All teachers have leadership potential and can benefit from exercising that potential. Teachers become more active learners in an environment where they are leaders. “When teachers lead, principals extend their capacity, students enjoy a more democratic society of learners, and schools benefit from better decisions” (Barth 1999, p. 445).