Research indicates that teachers are one of the most important stakeholders in quality of education in a country and are responsible for its improvement. However, how teachers understand and experience their role as curriculum leaders in contributing to education quality is yet to be known. The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers’ understanding and experiences of their role as curriculum leaders in schools. The study assumed a qualitative approach within the interpretive paradigm underpinned by Grant’s Model of Teacher Leadership. The sample consisted of 20 teachers and 4 principals from 4 secondary schools within the Vhembe District of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The data on how teachers understand and experience their role as curriculum leaders in schools were obtained by means of semi-structured individual interviews, focus-group discussions with teachers at each school, as well as lesson, and curriculum-related meeting observations. The data were thematically analysed, and the results categorised according to themes and sub-themes. From the findings of this study, it was established that teachers understand their role as curriculum leaders in the light of teacher inclusion in decision-making during the entire curriculum development process. Teachers perceived their role as multi-layered and complex. Teachers experienced their role as curriculum leaders in that they led instructional activities, school-based curriculum development activities, and curriculum activities beyond the school, involving the community. The findings also indicated that teachers experience exclusion when vital curriculum decisions are taken. Teachers experience making decisions as curriculum leaders mostly at the implementation stage of the curriculum. The study contributes to the growing knowledge of information on teacher leadership in schools. It recommends a bottom-up approach to ideas and suggestions on matters of curriculum decisions at any level such decisions are made. The study also proposes a model to guide teacher inclusion in curriculum decision-making. The study was limited to the views and experiences of teachers and principals who participated in the study. A further study employing a quantitative approach, on teachers as curriculum leaders, could be carried out on a larger sample that would allow for generalization of the findings. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2021. / The South African National Research Foundation / Education Management and Policy Studies / PhD / Unrestricted

The job of principals is demanding and evolving; consequently, they cannot lead alone. Teacher leaders can be a valuable resource if principals know how to build leadership capacity in teachers and practice distributive leadership. Understanding principals' and teachers' perceptions of their needs and how to best meet these needs can aid principals in building, and sustaining teacher leadership capacity. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative study was to identify principals' and teachers' perceptions of their need and efforts to build teacher leadership capacity through school-level supports and professional development as well as principals' and teachers' perceptions of their ability to act as teacher leaders having participated in school-level professional development. Existing literature on building teacher leadership and sharing leadership responsibilities as it relates to the role of the principal, professional development, and sustainability was reviewed. Qualitative data were collected from 18 teachers and six principals in teacher focus groups and individual principal interviews in six high schools in one division in southeastern Virginia. At the conclusion of the data collection process, the researcher examined the perceptions of the teachers and the principals. The analysis revealed principals' and teachers' perceptions about the following areas: formal and informal leadership roles; professional development opportunities, teacher leadership structures in schools, strategic plans for building teacher leadership, mentor relationships between principals and teachers, barriers to teacher leadership, and recommendations for improved professional development opportunities. The study reinforced the notion that school-level supports and professional development need to be systematic and strategic. / Ed. D.

This capstone project was part of a group project completed by two principals in elementary schools and a principal coach in Hillsborough County, Florida. Each of the team members has a passion for the work of administrator and lead learner in a turnaround school. Through creating a culture of teacher leadership, especially in high poverty schools, we believe students will succeed. We were looking for what a high performing school culture would look like if teachers were leading the work through ongoing inquiry and personalized support. My individual focus was, in what kinds of work experiences did teachers feel they learned the most? What were those situations? Who else was involved, and what did they do? What did teachers do to foster their own development? What made these situations high point learning experiences? My review of selected literature was guided by an Appreciative Inquiry perspective. Themes in the literature reviewed included: teacher collaboration, teacher leadership, and job-embedded professional development. Key insights to my area of focus included strong confirmation of the need for differentiated professional development for teachers to foster and improve teacher leadership. The research reviewed examined different professional development models and their relationship to teacher needs. School leaders should pay attention to how teachers are supported, how time is allotted, the degree to which a leader is committed, the need for collaboration among teachers, and the need for job-embedded learning and teacher support.

This capstone project was part of a group project completed by two principals in elementary schools and a principal coach in Hillsborough County, Florida. Each of the team members has a passion for the work of administrator and lead learner in a turnaround school. Through creating a culture of teacher leadership, especially in high poverty schools, we believe students will succeed. We were looking for what a high performing school culture would look like if teachers were leading the work through ongoing inquiry and personalized support. My individual focus was, how can district and school leaders support a culture where teachers are leading teachers? As a principal coach, I am responsible for supporting principals at all levels in the schools within my area. I am also responsible for creating professional learning experiences that will permeate into the schools where leaders will take action and where teachers are empowered to make decisions to address the needs of their students. Selected literature was reviewed that considers how to create a system of support for leaders (teachers, administrators) who are increasingly expected to lead more autonomously when they have traditionally been provided directives through district initiatives that emphasize accountability. Themes in the literature reviewed included: community re-norming, teaching/learning symbiosis, and leadership that is proactive and reflective (inquiring). Key findings in my area of focus included valuing professional community and supporting it; moving control of professional development from the district to schools; developing models to allocate time for professional development at the school level; clarifying school and district leaders’ roles in supporting teacher leadership; and assessing and prioritizing district initiatives to determine what is really needed at school sites ̶ particularly in turnaround schools.

Leadership in schools is equated principally with those who hold formal or designated positions of leadership. However, the general leadership literature asserts that leadership in the post-corporate world of the organisation is not solely position-based, nor does it belong to any one person. Rather, leadership is shared and collaborative, is distributive and multi-dimensional, and is open to all members of an organisation. This study explored the perceptions and experiences of leadership by teachers and their opportunities for leadership development, in the context of the study of the Catholic school. A key assumption that underpinned the study was that teachers, by virtue of their professional practice and professional learning, exercise leadership. It was argued in the study that the educational philosophy of a Catholic school provides a suitable context for teachers to exercise leadership. The conceptual framework for the study was derived from an exploration of the research literature which focused on the general field of leadership, educational leadership and the genre of teacher leadership. The empirical study involved qualitative inquiry situated within an interpretative paradigm and oriented to providing in-depth and detailed descriptions and interpretations of the phenomenon of leadership. Data were gathered through four focus group interviews conducted with teachers in two Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, Australia. A fifth focus group interview was conducted with an ‘expert’ group of teachers to verify a first summary of the findings. Data were analysed through an iterative process of data reduction, data display and verification. The data produced rich descriptions of leadership as perceived and experienced by teachers and were displayed in key themes within the framework of the research questions. The findings of the study revealed that teachers in the sample had well-developed understandings of leadership, of the nature of leadership in a Catholic school, and of their personal, interpersonal and professional capacity to exercise leadership in their professional practice and professional learning. However, these conceptual understandings did not always translate into practice. Leadership by teachers and leadership development of teachers were hindered by a number of factors, namely, a perceived lack of identity of teaching as a profession; the association of leadership with formal leadership structures within the school, and limited access to professional learning programs. The recommendations arising from the study have implications for system and school leaders and for policymakers and practitioners alike. In particular, the development of policy and practice that articulates the multi-dimensional perspective of leadership, and the leadership and professional role of teachers within this perspective, are highlighted. In light of the study’s findings, future research relating to the area of teacher leadership is recommended. Although the genre, teacher leadership, is well established in educational literature, there has been limited empirical research undertaken in this field in the Australian education context. This study makes a small but significant contribution to the ongoing development of knowledge in the field.

Historically, teachers’ unions have been some of the major organizational sites of social justice leadership in K-12 education (Kuehn, 2007; M. Murphy, 1990; Urban, 1982), but until the mid 1990s, the term “social justice unionism” (Peterson & Charney, 1999) had little currency in teacher union circles. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the concept of social justice unionism in context. In particular, I asked how teacher union activists contributed and responded to the institutionalization of social justice in their organization. I used a critical constructionist (Ball, 1987; Berger & Luckmann, 1966; D. E. Smith, 1987) perspective to analyze 25 career history (Goodson, 1994) interviews with teachers, staff and elected officials affiliated with the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation between 1967 and 2007, and found that successive generations of union-involved activists dedicated to labour solidarity, feminism, multiculturalism, anti-colonialism and anti-homophobia used networks of like-minded colleagues to counter bureaucratic norms within their organization, the education system and society. A qualitative depiction of these changes suggests that they were layered, multi-dimensional and uneven. They played out on a contested, uphill gradient shaped, but not determined, by four factors: the organizational prioritization of teacher welfare over social justice; historically persistent micro-political struggles between two federation caucuses; the centralizing tendencies of union leadership in response to the provincial government’s centralization of educational authority; and broader ruling relations in Canadian society. Still, despite this uphill gradient, all activist networks left a durable trace on federation history. The major significance of this finding for critical theorists and social justice activists is a modestly hopeful alternative to the traditional conceptions of change embedded in organizational theory: revolution, evolution or despair.

Historically, teachers’ unions have been some of the major organizational sites of social justice leadership in K-12 education (Kuehn, 2007; M. Murphy, 1990; Urban, 1982), but until the mid 1990s, the term “social justice unionism” (Peterson & Charney, 1999) had little currency in teacher union circles. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the concept of social justice unionism in context. In particular, I asked how teacher union activists contributed and responded to the institutionalization of social justice in their organization. I used a critical constructionist (Ball, 1987; Berger & Luckmann, 1966; D. E. Smith, 1987) perspective to analyze 25 career history (Goodson, 1994) interviews with teachers, staff and elected officials affiliated with the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation between 1967 and 2007, and found that successive generations of union-involved activists dedicated to labour solidarity, feminism, multiculturalism, anti-colonialism and anti-homophobia used networks of like-minded colleagues to counter bureaucratic norms within their organization, the education system and society. A qualitative depiction of these changes suggests that they were layered, multi-dimensional and uneven. They played out on a contested, uphill gradient shaped, but not determined, by four factors: the organizational prioritization of teacher welfare over social justice; historically persistent micro-political struggles between two federation caucuses; the centralizing tendencies of union leadership in response to the provincial government’s centralization of educational authority; and broader ruling relations in Canadian society. Still, despite this uphill gradient, all activist networks left a durable trace on federation history. The major significance of this finding for critical theorists and social justice activists is a modestly hopeful alternative to the traditional conceptions of change embedded in organizational theory: revolution, evolution or despair.

The key aims of this case study are to understand the notion of teacher leadership and identify factors that impact the professional development of teacher leaders in a foreign language institute. As little empirical research exists on how EFL teacher leaders acquire leadership skills and learn about leadership roles, this study explores factors contributing to the professional learning and growth of EFL teacher leaders in the Saudi EFL context. The study is an interpretive one, using semi-structured interviews as the primary data collection instrument complemented by an open-ended questionnaire. The detailed accounts of 12 EFL teacher leaders indicate that ‘teacher leadership’ is a novel construct at the ELI where teacher leadership roles are positioned in the middle of the organisational hierarchy. EFL teachers in these middle-level leadership roles have titles such as head of professional development unit (PDU), head of academic coordination unit (ACU) and head of curriculum unit (CU). In spite of being a new concept at the ELI, leadership roles and responsibilities to a great extent share similarities with teacher leadership in western school contexts. However, teacher leaders encounter various challenges which are mainly due to the bureaucratic structures at the ELI. The data reveal lack of autonomy, inadequate professional support from the top management, and ineffectiveness of the existing professional development courses at the ELI. This study provides insights into factors which support EFL teacher leader professional development. There are five main elements: a) previous experiential learning, both formal and informal; b) leadership knowledge, skills and abilities which are brought to their current roles and further improved through collaborative practices; c) intrinsic motivation and personal urge to do more learning and leading; d) learning from being in leadership roles; and e) reflective practices at individual and group levels. Despite the concurrent difficulties and uncooperative workplace environment, the EFL teacher leaders managed to acquire role-related leadership skills while learning on the job. This thesis concludes by offering suggestions tailored to the professional development needs of teacher leaders in the EFL context, namely that top leadership should adopt flexible leadership approaches and that trainers should conduct more context-specific professional development courses on a regular basis. These supportive strategies should ensure sustainable professional development and raise the degree of professionalism among EFL teacher leaders at the ELI.

This paper and presentation will tell the story of Kingsport City Schools' development and use of teacher leaders. The evolution of this approach has been needs based and data informed.

Teacher burnout is not a new problem; however, with increasing frequency, teacher burnout leads to teacher attrition. Teacher burnout is a problem that affects school districts nationwide because of the financial and academic toll it has on education. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore teacher burnout, its perceived causes, and its effects in an urban high school in the northeastern United States. The conceptual framework was based on Vygotsky's social development theory. The research questions focused on factors that contribute to teacher burnout and teachers' perceptions of the ways in which their burnout affected instruction as well as their interactions with parents, colleagues, and administrators. The data collection method was based on in-depth interviews with 5 high school teachers who experienced burnout. The interview data were analyzed and color-coded to identify recurring themes and patterns. An individual narrative was developed for each of the 5 teachers followed by a cross-case analysis of the data. Major findings suggest that teacher burnout may result from several factors such as educational mandates, classroom discipline issues; it affects classroom instruction and impacts interaction with all educational stakeholders. The study's implications for positive social change are rooted in identifying and eliminating the factors that contribute to teacher burnout in order to retain highly qualified and motivated teachers who will provide students with consistent, high-quality, equal educational opportunities that help them reach their full academic potential.