This seven-year research project analysed the teacher followership traits of a high-performing school in Hong Kong and discussed how the experience may offer some insight into successful teacher followership traits and teacher competencies. The qualitative approach was adopted to examine the process of successful teacher followership in a total of seven cases-six teachers and their school head-with reference to the exemplary followership model suggested by Robert Kelley (1992). The embedded case study was designed to identify the differences among three award-winning teachers, three non-award-winning teachers, and their school head. Analysis of the six successful teachers yielded four primary categories related to successful teacher followership and teacher competencies: (a) successful followers are primarily doers in their organization; (b) successful followers are primarily lovers/caring to their students/customers; (c) more successful followers tend to be learners in behaviour; (d) more successful followers tend to be hunters in personality. I address implications for teacher followership, teacher competencies, leadership studies, teacher education, and government policies concerning education as well as teacher tl:aining. Data collection was mainly done by (a) questionnaires; (b) recorded semi-structured interviews; (c) written documents; and (d) the researcher's four years of reflection notes. From the interviews and themes identified in the seven cases, it is suggested that values rather than skills or knowledge are the key teacher competencies found in the six successful teachers and their school leader/head. And these educators were not only the doers: Most important, they were also the lovers, the learners, and the hunters in their school. The followership and leadership experience in this high-performing school may provide a good case for understanaing the dynamics of followership and leadership as well as drawing the theoretical and practical implications for research, policy formulation and implementation, not only in Hong Kong but also in other international communities. This study on successful teacher followership will tender some insight into leadership, teacher professionalism, and school success.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:685009 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Cheng Mung Lai, Clara |
| Publisher | University of Bristol |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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