In Egypt, the school educational system has been suffering a deteriorating quality over the last few decades. Since the revolution that took place in Egypt in 2011, political tensions and conflicts have consumed so much energy and time, making it hard for Egyptians to focus on development. Therefore, through this doctoral study that follows an action based methodology, I aim to contribute to the current efforts to improve the Egyptian educational system. In this study, I introduced an intervention that draws upon the principles of school improvement, reform strategies and non-positional teacher leadership. This is done through adopting and adapting the ‘teacher-led development work’ (TLDW) approach. In this study, a group of 50 teachers from four different Egyptian schools took part in the programme for one academic year. Through this programme I supported them to lead innovations in their classrooms and schools as a whole. Each teacher/participant was expected to initiate and lead a development project that improves teaching and learning in their schools, and other teachers could benefit from as well. Data was collected throughout the academic year to continuously monitor and adapt the programme, and to explore what the programme made possible and the conditions that made it possible. The programme usefully supported teachers in taking action that had a positive impact on the students, teachers and school as a whole. However, the most significant impact observed was on the participating teachers themselves: their professionality, self-confidence and self-efficacy that underpinned growth in their own skills and pedagogic repertoires. There were a set of conditions that were required for this programme to have an impact. Practitioners and policy makers interested in educational reform through teachers could benefit from considering these factors in their own development.

Effective leadership has a positive impact upon schools and student achievement. Teacher inclusion in leadership efforts has grown during a time of school reform. In order to sustain and define teacher leader responsibilities, efficacious teachers need to be supported by school and district administrators. A case study was used to understand the dynamics of self-efficacy as it pertains to teacher leaders in the Oak Ridge School District in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Purposive sampling was used to select 5 teacher leaders and 2 district administrators for the case study. Interviews along with observations of meetings facilitated by teacher leaders allowed for inductive analysis of the phenomenon of self-efficacy for teachers in formal leadership roles. Self-efficacy of teacher leaders can be nurtured through various structures, climates, and learning opportunities. School districts can purposefully design teacher leadership opportunities with a clearly defined vision for all stakeholders. The findings of the study support and extend the literature on the sources of self-efficacy. Attention to the sources of efficacy for teacher leaders could help administrators plan successful leadership opportunities and assists in retention for teacher leadership roles.

The goal of this study was to understand how a secondary principal uses a distributed perspective of leadership to support informal teacher leaders (ITLs) to improve classroom technology integration. Using a phenomenological lens, I employed a multi-site case study to inform the research goals. A conceptual framework based on Bandura’s (1977) social learning theory and Wenger’s (1998) communities of practice theory was used to guide the study’s methods and data collection. Data were collected in three phases. At each site, the first phase consisted of a digital survey with only closed-ended questions that was administered to all classroom teachers. The survey was analyzed using social network analysis to identify the ITLs at each school. During the second phase, individual interviews with the ITLs and the principal as well as a follow-up focus group interview with ITLs at each school were conducted. During the final phase of data collection, I observed the ITLs at work to understand how they embodied informal teacher leadership. Analyses of diverse data revealed how a principal influences the nature of informal teacher leadership in a school. Findings revealed that principals establish cultural expectations using teacher voice in leadership decisions, modeling the effective use of education technology, providing in-school and out-of-school leadership opportunities for ITLs, and establishing expectations for all teachers to assume roles of instructional leadership. It was clear in this study that although principals are not directly connected to the informal leading and learning network that occurs in a school, they indirectly influence the informal network by establishing school-wide cultural expectations for informal teacher leadership and by personally interacting with the ITLs.

There is a national call for teacher leadership, which has occurred after many education reforms have struggled due to a perceived lack of teacher involvement. The purpose of this study was to examine whether teachers felt that their involvement in education policy had impact and whether there is ample teacher expertise in education policy. The overarching research question was to appraise educator perceptions of teacher impact on state education policy. The study revealed a perceived lack of teacher impact and education expertise. The conceptual framework was based on theories of adult learning and the development of expertise and supported the necessity of teacher expertise in policy discussions' because teachers are the ones who have developed classroom expertise and the potential impact of policy on classrooms. A case study methodology was applied with 5 state teachers of the year participants. The participants were from 4 states, recognized from 2012-2015, and had local, state, and national policy experience. Interviews were conducted to collect data, with direct interpretation and categorical aggregation through coding applied to analyze data during collection. After identifying a perceived lack of teacher impact, themes were identified that could create more effective impact. Themes were grouped into skills, knowledge, and dispositions that could be taught in a series of learning experiences, serving as curriculum for teachers to build expertise in policy. This project has the potential to assist educators in developing the skills, knowledge, and dispositions needed to become more effectively involved in policy. It also has the potential to create social change in the United States by assisting teachers in getting meaningfully involved in policy, thereby positively impacting public education for their students in their classrooms, schools, districts, and beyond.

The roles and responsibilities of teacher leaders change as schools, districts, and states adopt new policies, procedures, and initiatives. However, little qualitative research has been conducted about how teachers develop leadership skills, particularly during preservice preparation programs. The purpose of this single case study was to explore how a community of practice prepared college graduates to be teacher leaders. The conceptual framework was based on the concepts of situated learning, communities of practice and legitimate peripheral participation. Four graduates from a state teaching program were purposefully selected as participants. Data were collected from multiple sources, including initial and follow-up interviews with program graduates, observations of their leadership activities in public schools, archival data, and program documents. Analysis consisted of multilevel coding, category construction, and determination of emergent themes and discrepant data to inform key findings. Findings suggested that the Southern State Teaching Program prepared its graduates to serve as teacher leaders through situated learning opportunities and the development, practice, and refinement of skills necessary for leading others. The program also offered peripheral participation in the program and the teaching profession. Implications for positive social change include the potential for including teacher leader development programs at the preservice level, which may ultimately improve teacher retention and student achievement.

This research explored the understandings and perceptions of teacher leadership in the Year 8 classroom, as expressed by teachers and students at a Catholic school, and the relationship between this leadership and boys’ academic motivation. The researcher assumed that the classroom is an organisation (Cheng, 1994) where all teachers, perhaps even unknowingly (Crowther, 1996), exercise leadership and, furthermore, that this leadership results in positively influencing boys’ willingness to learn. The research was targeted at Year 8, the first year of high school in South Australia, because academic motivation is considered most problematic during and after transition into high school (Maehr & Midgley, 1991). The research was interpretivist, with symbolic interactionism as the theoretical perspective. The methodology adopted was case study, and data were collected using: a) Focus group interviews with eight members of the Year 8 ‘core’ teaching team on issues pertaining to teacher leadership in the classroom and how this positively influences boys’ academic motivation. b) A survey questionnaire about academic motivation, distributed to thirty-nine specially identified Year 8 students. c) Interviews with five key Year 8 student informants about teacher leadership and its impact on boys’ academic motivation. Data were analysed using a “general analytic strategy” (Yin, 1994, p.102), which included the adoption of a method of “successive approximation” (Neumann, 1997, p.427). Five categories of teacher leadership in the Year 8 classroom were identified: service; authenticity; transformation; empowerment; and community. The research also established that each category involves an array of qualities that help teacher leaders strengthen relationships in the classroom, and a set of actions that enable teacher leaders to help boys complete classroom tasks. Further, results indicate that by strengthening relationships and supporting boys to complete tasks, teacher leaders positively influence boys’ academic motivation. In addition, the research presents a framework for understanding and discussing the relationship between teacher leadership and boys’ academic motivation. This framework draws attention to the relational qualities and task specific strategies in each category of classroom leadership that positively influence boys’ academic motivation.

本研究旨在瞭解當前國民中、小學教師領導以及教師工作滿意度之現況，並探討教師領導與教師工作滿意度間之相關情形。根據文獻探討及相關實證研究所得之結果設計問卷，進行問卷調查，再將所得之數據以描述性統計、獨立樣本t檢定、單因子變異數分析、積差相關以及逐步多元回歸等統計方法進行分析與討論。 本研究以新北市國民中、小學教師為研究對象，編製「教師領導與教師工作滿意度調查問卷」進行調查，有效樣本共計424份。所得結果如下： 一、 新北市國民中、小學教師對教師領導的覺知情形屬中上程度。 二、 新北市國民中、小學教師之工作滿意度屬中上程度。 三、 新北市國民中、小學教師對「教師領導」的覺知情形因背景變項之不同，在部分向度上有顯著差異。 四、 新北市國民中、小學教師之工作滿意度情形因背景變項之不同，在部分向度上有顯著差異。 五、 新北市國民中、小學教師之教師領導情形對教師工作滿意度具預測力，其中又以「行政支持」、「平行領導」、「學習社群」及「決策參與」較具預測力。 最後，根據本研究所得之結果提出建議，作為教育主管機關、學校行政人員以及未來相關研究之參考。 / The purpose of the study is to understand the general situation and correlation of teacher leadership and teacher job satisfaction perceived by elementary school and junior high school teachers in Taiwan. Descriptive statistics, T-test, ANOVA, product-moment correlation, and stepwise multiple regression analysis were employed to analyze the data gathered by means of Teacher Leadership and Teacher Job Satisfaction Questionnaire generated from related literature review. Teacher Leadership and Teacher Job Satisfaction Questionnaire was utilized to investigate elementary school and junior high school teachers in New Taipei City, and 424 effective questionnaires were completed. Major findings are as following: 1. The entire performance of teacher leadership perceived by elementary school and junior high school teachers in New Taipei City is at middle-high degree. 2. The entire performance of teacher job satisfaction perceived by elementary school and junior high school teachers in New Taipei City is at middle-high degree. 3. Teacher leadership perceived by elementary school and junior high school teachers in New Taipei City shows significant difference in some dimensions in certain demographic levels. 4. Teacher job satisfaction perceived by elementary school and junior high school teachers in New Taipei City shows significant difference in some dimensions in certain demographic levels. 5. Teacher leadership perceived by elementary school and junior high school teachers in New Taipei City is predictive of perceived teacher job satisfaction. Support from administration, parallel leadership, professional learning community, and participative decision making are the most powerful predictors of teacher job satisfaction. Finally, suggestions were madefor education administration, school leaders like principals and researcher interested in further studies to follow.

In 2003, the Florida legislature appropriated funds to finance pilot programs (1012.231, Florida Statutes) to prepare for the 2004-2005 school year in which pay for performance initiatives were to be implemented in each district. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine and describe the planning, processes, and implications of a pilot career ladder program that was implemented into a large Florida school district in the spring of 2004. During data collection, the program was terminated therefore creating a second purpose that sought to describe residual implications of a program when it is discontinued. Data collected for this study were used to respond to six specific research questions. The first inquired about the planning process prior to implementation. Archival documents were used to determine whether research-based strategies were involved. The second through the fifth questions rely heavily on survey and structured interview data collected by the district and the primary researcher respectively and seek to determine critical perspectives from teachers and administrators regarding the career ladder including knowledge, fairness, and implications for school and district. The sixth question asks whether residual effects remain in place after an initiative has been terminated. Particularly, as a major finding, time for implementation was a theme throughout the study as most respondents were concerned about the short timeline this program had to develop fully. Stakeholder buy-in and understanding of program roles emerged from the data. However, the notion of a mentor that was given the time and resources was frequently mentioned as a benefit to new teachers and the school overall. Furthermore, respondents saw the potential long-term benefit of staff development that would allow highly trained master teachers to coach new and struggling teachers during the day in a clinical setting. There was evidence that this program did have an initial negative impact on the culture of the schools in the district. One unplanned aspect of this case study was the fact that the program was terminated at the state level. This had implications for all stakeholders and could be a strong factor in later implementations; therefore, this would require further study.

The importance of teacher leadership has received intense interest as an area of educational research over the past three decades (Crowther, Kaagan, Ferguson & Hann, 2002; Harris, 2003; Lambert, 2002; Marks & Printy, 2003). Most of this research has focused on the qualifications, impacts, and development of teacher leadership (Smylie & Mayrowetz, 2009). This study aimed to broaden the scope of research to include science teachers’ interaction with leadership practices in the course of a leadership development program that includes both their own professional development (PD) and leadership of teacher-driven professional development (TDPD). The study considered professional vision and identity rather than focusing only on formal or informal leadership roles. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine experienced physics and chemistry high school teachers’ perceptions of their leadership roles and characteristics and their professional vision and identity as they participated in a leadership development training program and a math and science partnership program as facilitators of the science activities for K-12 teachers. The study was situated within the leadership training program (I-LEAD) five-year project, which was designed to recruit experienced secondary physics and chemistry teachers, called Master Teaching Fellows (MTFs), to understand the dynamics that support or limit the development of teacher leaders. The participants in this study consisted of up to three of these MTFs, who organized and implemented TDPD activities for K-12 teachers to improve these teachers’ science knowledge and teaching practices. The data was analyzed using multiple coding methods that generated themes from interviews with the MTFs and archival data from the I-LEAD leadership program. The results of the study claim that professional vision, professional identity, and teacher leadership roles and skills are inextricably interrelated. These dynamic components are refined, reshaped, and reformed by self-reflection, discussion, and feedback as provided through PD activities. This study further suggests that teacher leadership mechanism evolves over time through practicing different teacher leadership roles in the professional journey. Implications and practical suggestions for school administrators, PD developers, and policy makers as well as teacher leaders are discussed.

abstract: Though National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) in Arizona have been identified as leaders on a national level, they do not have comparable opportunities to lead within their local contexts or engage in leadership and collaboration activities that align with Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC) Standard 10. The purpose of this sequential, mixed-methods study was to explore how the development of a teacher leadership community of practice for NBCTs might influence their perceptions of themselves as leaders. Social constructionism, action research, and communities of practice guided the innovation and a mixed-methods approach was used for data collection and analysis. Data illustrated NBCTs’ dichotomous feelings about leadership on local and national levels. Findings revealed that NBCTs need continued professional learning opportunities, beyond National Board Certification, to resolve feelings of isolation and fully meet all of the leadership and collaboration indicators for InTASC Standard 10. Participating in a teacher leadership community of practice (a) provided a professional learning opportunity for NBCTs, (b) improved NBCTs’ perceptions of teacher leadership and helped them define it as an active process of learning, reflection, and action, and (c) increased NBCTs’ readiness to take action as teacher leaders within their local contexts to evoke positive change. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2016