Teacher leaders – current or former classroom teachers working with other classroom teachers and other educators in the school or district – are present in many reform efforts in mathematics and science education. Teacher leaders may engage in a variety of practices, which draw on different kinds of knowledge and skills. Well-designed preparation programs are structured to support the development of these knowledge and skills so that teacher leaders can be effective in their work to improve instruction.
Practice-based Insights on Teacher Leaders’ Preparation: Structure and Pedagogy
Advice from experienced practitioners offers guidance to those involved in structuring preparation programs that develop teacher leader knowledge and skills. Insights provided by a group of expert practitioners with diverse backgrounds and experiences in working with teachers included the following ideas:
- Mix it up – Teacher leader preparation programs should engage teacher leaders in a variety of experiences to build necessary knowledge and skills.
- Scaffold learning – Teacher leader preparation should feature explicit structures to scaffold teacher leaders’ learning.
- Keep on learning – Teacher leaders’ preparation should not be entirely “front-loaded,” but continue as teacher leaders implement their work in schools.
- It takes a village – Teacher leader preparation programs should sustain learning among teacher leaders.
Research on Teacher Leaders’ Preparation: Structure and Pedagogy
In a review of the published empirical literature, eight research studies were identified that included findings related to the structure of a teacher leader preparation program. While there was little overlap in the specific structures identified in the findings of these studies, two common themes emerged. Studies found that hands-on and interactive activities were linked to positive changes in participants’ content knowledge and/or knowledge of pedagogy. Studies also found that the opportunity to practice leadership skills, either as a simulated real-life experience or by actually serving in a teacher leader role, was linked to improved leadership abilities. While most of these studies shared common methodological limitations, two studies (Khourey-Bowers et al., 2006; Lalli & Feger, 2005) described a robust empirical design for research on structuring the preparation of teacher leaders that may serve as examples for the design of future studies.
One aspect of teacher leaders’ preparation is the content of the program; that is, the specific knowledge and skills teacher leaders are to learn. An equally important aspect of teacher leader preparation is how these learning experiences are structured to ensure that the content is understood and applied.
Experienced practitioners, including MSP program leaders, offered insights around the structure and pedagogy of teacher leaders’ preparation. Data were collected and vetted through multi-round, online panel discussions with practitioners, as well as interviews and focus groups with MSP leaders. The insights below reflect general agreement among these practitioners around structuring teacher leader preparation programs and include illustrative examples from their own practice. After reviewing these insights, you will be given an opportunity to share your own experiences with teacher leader preparation. The information you provide will be included in the analysis of insights and examples from other practitioners.
Mix it up – Teacher leader preparation programs should engage teacher leaders in a variety of experiences to build necessary knowledge and skills.
Teacher leaders bring their own experiences, strengths, and weaknesses to a preparation program and will have varying needs when it comes to developing knowledge and skills for their leadership work. Accordingly, experienced practitioners suggested that teacher leader preparation programs utilize a variety of strategies in preparing teacher leaders for their work, noting that “one size fits few teacher leaders.” One program leader pointed out the need for applying the principles of effective professional development to leadership development, “What is known about effective professional development should be applied in this context – using a variety of strategies to address the needs of teacher leaders’ prior knowledge and experience, diverse learning styles, interests, areas of strength, needs, and levels of engagement.” For example, a teacher leader preparation program may feature lectures on content from STEM faculty, problem solving activities, and opportunities to plan lessons around the content presented. A teacher leader who brings deep understanding of the content might glean more from lesson planning activities, where s/he can practice incorporating that content into lessons featuring sound pedagogical approaches. Another teacher leader may bring years of exceptional classroom experience, but lack experience in that particular content area; this teacher leader might find more value in the lecture and problem-solving activities.
After identifying the needs of individual learners, preparation programs are advised to differentiate learning experiences, for example, by providing a menu of offerings that give participants some choice in their training. In doing this, experienced practitioners suggest, it is critical for preparation programs to clearly articulate the intended outcomes of the preparation as it relates to teacher leaders’ practice, helping participants to identify their needs and make the best use of a program’s offerings.
Insight in action
A program designed to prepare and support middle and high school science and mathematics teacher leaders featured five major strands: content knowledge, leadership skills, theory and practice of professional development, facilitating collaborative groups, and mentoring/coaching. After it became obvious that teacher leaders attending the preparation program were more experienced and knowledgeable in some strands than others, the preparation program was modified to reflect a continuum of knowledge and skills. The modified preparation program featured different entry points for each of the five strands and could accommodate the diverse pool of teacher leaders selected for the program.
Scaffold learning – Teacher leader preparation should feature explicit structures to scaffold teacher leaders’ learning.
Experienced practitioners suggested that teacher leader preparation programs include explicit structures to support ongoing learning. For example, teacher leaders could be given an observation protocol to use in peer observations or guiding questions to use in reflecting upon an activity in the preparation program. These structures may change over time, but some kind of scaffolding is needed to support teacher leader learning. As one MSP leader explained, “One of the things we know from the learning research is that people need structure to understand, and that, as learners, they often are not capable of imposing their own structure on information.”
Insight in action
An MSP asked their first cadre of teacher leaders to create a project encompassing mentoring, public relations, professional growth, and dissemination of the MSP’s strategies into their own and, subsequently, in other teachers’ classrooms. This initial process had not provided enough structure for teacher leaders, resulting in “a great latitude of results” according to an MSP leader. In the preparation program for a second cadre of teacher leaders, the MSP provided a more concrete framework that mapped out dates and times for completing benchmarks.
Experienced practitioners noted that external resources are often helpful in providing additional opportunities for scaffolding the preparation of teacher leaders. A program designer might identify institutes and conferences that are particularly relevant given the goals and purpose of teacher leaders’ work, or recruit external experts to serve as an additional resource for teacher leaders during their preparation. The contribution of these resources to the preparation of teacher leaders lies in the ways in which teacher leaders’ learning is scaffolded; giving teacher leaders access to external resources such as conferences does not necessarily mean that teacher leaders learn.
Insight in action
Teacher leaders working with an MSP received training on a set of professional learning tasks (PLT) and protocols that they could use to conduct professional development with teachers in their schools. One PLT, for example, provided a structure for teachers to conduct classroom observations and collect information about math discourse among students. The results of the observation formed the basis for a debriefing among teachers, facilitated by a teacher leader, to make meaning from their experience and to inform future lesson development. This strategy was effective in raising awareness about discourse among teachers in their schools.
Keep on learning – Teacher leaders’ preparation should not be entirely “front-loaded,” but continue as teacher leaders implement their work in schools.
Experienced practitioners suggested that teacher leader preparation support participants along a trajectory of learning, and not be limited only to what happens “at the beginning” of the program. Preparation that occurs at the outset (i.e., prior to engaging in teacher leader practice) is important to get teacher leaders started, but designers of preparation programs should be purposeful about what this portion of preparation is meant to accomplish. Otherwise, resources might be wasted on preparation experiences that are not meaningful to teacher leaders because they are cannot be applied yet. One MSP leader boldly argued, “I don’t think teacher leaders need to be kept out of classrooms for long periods of time to be ‘prepared’ to lead. If there is nothing they can do to support teachers without extensive preparation, they should not be leaders.”
The leader of an MSP program that distributed teacher leader preparation over three years commented about the importance of “spreading out the learning to allow for reflection and deeper understanding.” Experienced practitioners noted that building teacher leaders’ knowledge and skills is not a “one-time” activity; it needs to occur at the beginning of preparation as well as after their practice has begun, to help them continue to develop as leaders. Another MSP leader noted,
Teacher leaders began work as coaches immediately, so, as a result, they were trained on the job. We brought in outside consultants to provide leadership training, and the MSP also provides ongoing training so that current needs are addressed in a purposeful and relevant manner. We could not train the teacher leaders and then sit back. We are continually adjusting our ongoing professional development for teacher leaders.
Like all learners, teacher leaders need opportunities to apply and practice what they are learning, helping them connect their preparation to the realities they are facing or will face in their practice. For instance, a cycle of learning might be implemented in which teacher leaders learn about and plan for a skill, implement it at their schools, reflect on the results with teacher leader colleagues, and apply what was learned in subsequent practice. Or, it might be a focus on artifacts of teacher leader practice, through “assignments” that are carried out by teacher leaders or through observations of other teacher leaders engaging in practice, and then analysis and reflection on those artifacts. If explicit connections are not made between preparation and practice, there may be a divide between what happens under the label of “preparation” and what occurs as part of “practice”.
Insight in action
As part of an MSP coaching program where mathematics and science teacher leaders provide in-class support to teachers in order to help them improve their classroom practice, teacher leaders meet 15 times during the year for content-specific professional development and five additional times as a full group to discuss general coaching issues. For example, during the content-specific sessions, teacher leaders have an opportunity to “practice” a lesson that they plan to implement with teachers. Teacher leaders are provided with feedback on the content of the lesson and their facilitation skills. After implementing the lesson in the field, teacher leaders reflect on their experiences at the next content-specific session.
It takes a village – Teacher leader preparation programs should sustain learning among teacher leaders.
Rather than constructing preparation efforts as individual activities, carried out by teacher leaders who have little in common with one another, experienced practitioners recommended that designers emphasize the learning that goes on within a community of teacher leaders. Not only does this reinforce the mindset of learning from one another (which is often a goal in the work that teacher leaders do with teachers), but it highlights the common purpose and practices that a group of teacher leaders are engaged in. One practitioner argued for a culture of continuous improvement:
A culture of continuous improvement is often a new idea for teacher leaders at the beginning of their experience, and they are not explicitly aware of it. It isn’t until the program provides ongoing opportunities for them to engage in meaningful learning and share their learning with each other that they begin to view themselves as engaged learners.
Orchestrating preparation around what a group of teacher leaders is doing, what they are learning, and what they still need to learn, underscores the idea that teacher leader practice should have some similarities and a common purpose. It should not be idiosyncratic or reflective only of the individual teacher leader. Thus, sufficient time within a preparation program (and beyond) is needed to build and sustain a culture of ongoing, professional learning among teacher leaders, such that teacher leaders can draw on their own experiences in promoting a similar culture among teachers with whom they work.
If you are interested in how these practitioner insights were collected and analyzed, a summary of the methodology can be found here.
Teacher Leadership Matters
Empirical evidence shows that teacher leaders’ practice impacts teachers’ instructional practice and, in some studies, provides evidence of positive impact on student outcomes. Findings across studies include:
- Teacher leaders’ practice, particularly in providing instructional support to teachers, impacts teachers’ classroom practice.
- Teacher leaders’ practice occurs in a larger context of conditions that impact teachers’ practice.
- Teacher leaders’ practice is related to positive student outcomes.