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, inside and outside of the classroom, that support instructional improvement. As leaders of instructional teams of teachers and/or administrators, such as curriculum committees, school leadership councils, and grade level teams, teacher leaders provide leadership and thoughtful perspective that is grounded in experience and expertise as the team makes decisions that influence instruction.
Practice-based Insights on Teacher Leaders Providing Leadership to Teams of Teachers and Administrators
Advice from experienced practitioners offers guidance to those involved in teacher leader work providing leadership to instructional teams of teachers and administrators. Insights provided by a group of expert practitioners with diverse backgrounds and experiences in working with teachers included the following ideas:
- Knowledge matters – Prepare teacher leaders to draw on their content knowledge expertise when working with instructional teams of teachers and administrators.
- Been there, done that – Work with teacher leaders to utilize their prior classroom experience when providing leadership to teams of teachers and administrators.
- All politics is local – Teacher leaders need to be sensitive to the politics of the particular administrator/teacher team as well as the larger setting in which the team operates.
- R-E-S-P-E-C-T – Help teacher leaders develop a climate of mutual respect within an administrator/teacher team.
Research on Teacher Leaders Providing Leadership to Teams of Teachers and Administrators
In a review of the published literature, seventeen studies were identified that included findings related to teacher leaders providing leadership to grade-level or building-level instructional teams. These studies investigated different aspects of the leadership role of teacher leaders on instructional teams. One set of studies reported on the impact of teacher leaders through their leadership of instructional teams. Findings from these studies suggested that the presence of teacher leaders had positive impact on teams; however, these studies did not reveal much about the nature of the leadership they provided and why it was effective. A second set of studies examined factors that influenced teacher leader-led teams. These studies reported on a range of factors that influenced the functioning of teams led by teacher leaders, including: focus on subject matter, group dynamics, and the training received by the teacher leader. A third set of studies reported on the prevalence of teacher leader participation on instructional teams. These studies provided evidence that teacher leaders are called upon to provide leadership as a member of grade-level or building-level teams in elementary and secondary grades.
Teacher leaders may get a lot of mileage out of working with teachers individually because it builds rapport, and teachers spread the word about the work that teacher leaders do. At the same time, the school-wide impact of teacher leaders is limited if they must facilitate instructional change one teacher at a time. Indeed, working with teams of teachers and administrators is essential to helping develop a school-wide vision of effective instruction, because it is in these settings that the most substantive discussions tend to occur. Working with teams of teachers on a regular basis also helps teacher leaders reach everyone in the school.
Experienced practitioners, including MSP program leaders, offered insights around how teacher leaders can support classroom teachers to improve their instruction. 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 about important considerations for teacher leaders who provide leadership to teams of teachers and administrators. The insights are based on a variety of venues and include illustrative examples from practitioners’ own work. After reviewing these insights, you will be given an opportunity to share your own experiences with these practices. The information you provide will be included in the analysis of insights and examples from other practitioners as this website is periodically updated.
Knowledge matters – Prepare teacher leaders to draw on their content knowledge expertise when working with instructional teams of teachers and administrators.
Teacher leaders need deep knowledge of mathematics and science content to work effectively with leadership teams, whether it is a grade-level team, a school leadership team, a committee, or a task force. Teacher leaders with deep content knowledge are able to speak confidently and articulately to content-related issues such as how concepts are developed across grade levels and how students learn the content. This content knowledge expertise lends credibility to teacher leaders so that team members recognize them as a valuable knowledge resource. The leadership that a teacher leader can provide to a curriculum committee, for example, is closely related to his or her depth of knowledge in a content area.
Insight in action
In an urban district, teacher leaders facilitated grade-level team meetings in elementary schools. Teams used these meetings as opportunities to (among other things) collectively plan lessons whose content was central to a unit and to develop end-of-unit assessments. Teacher leaders brought to their leadership roles a thorough understanding of unit content; they knew which lessons within a unit were most critical, could identify and articulate the important concepts and skills each lesson was intended to develop, and were able to suggest questions that teachers could use with students to highlight important concepts. During meetings, teacher leaders used their expertise to engage teachers in discussion around all of these ideas. As a result, team members looked to teacher leaders for their deep content expertise, which contributed to the success of these activities.
Been there, done that – Work with teacher leaders to utilize their prior classroom experience when providing leadership to teams of teachers and administrators.
Prior experience in the classroom grounds the perspective that teacher leaders bring to their work with teachers and administrators, and lends credibility to their work with teams. Experienced practitioners noted that a teacher leader needed to bring knowledge of the challenges teachers face and issues they confront in the classroom, so that these are taken into consideration as the team engages in work that influences instruction. As one MSP leader argued, “The further one sits from the level of implementation, the less one understands the angst and trials involved in unlearning and re-learning practices.” When classroom teachers on a team recognize the teacher leader as “one of them” rather than an opposing force, they are likely to be more receptive to the teacher leader’s guidance.
Insight in action
As part of K-12 mathematics MSP, elementary teachers who had piloted Everyday Math in their classrooms later brought that experience to their work as teacher leaders. These teacher leaders mentored groups of teachers in their schools who were new to Everyday Math and worked with teachers and administrators from across their districts in professional development workshops. Teacher leaders reported that their prior experience using Everyday Math (along with their reflections and the professional development provided to them by the MSP) provided the knowledge and experience needed to act as leaders in support of other teachers and administrators.
All politics is local – Teacher leaders need to be sensitive to the politics of the particular administrator/teacher team as well as the larger setting in which the team operates.
For effective leadership in an instructional team setting, experienced practitioners recommended that teacher leaders decipher the dynamics of the particular venue to understand the issues that may shape how others receive his/her ideas. One practitioner noted that, “In this most political of educational times, the more knowledge a teacher leader has in this area, the better prepared they are likely to be.” The more awareness a teacher leader has of the political relationships that may affect his or her team’s work, the better s/he will be able to lead in a manner that is sensitive to these relationships. A teacher leader may not come to a group with complete knowledge of the politics and pressing issues, and may need support from others to develop this understanding. As one MSP leader commented, “This can be learned on the job by someone with experience in a similar venue.” However this knowledge is acquired, it is critical for teacher leaders’ success as leaders in team settings.
Insight in action
As part of community-engagement work that accompanied district reform efforts, teacher leaders worked on district mathematics committees, facilitated grade-level meetings, presented at school board meetings, led professional development sessions and took on many other leadership roles. A common base of understanding about reform efforts, shared between teacher leaders, educators, and other community members, along with the community’s recognition and value of their leadership expertise, helped teacher leaders to be successful in these roles. Their firsthand classroom experience with the ideas being promoted was a core factor in garnering this community support.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T – Help teacher leaders develop a climate of mutual respect within an administrator/teacher team.
It is important for teacher leaders to recognize that everyone on a particular team brings different experiences and expectations to the work. As one practitioner argued, “Teacher leaders need to be able to take into account the perspectives of others and operate within a system, rather than solely from their own knowledge and beliefs.” A teacher leader’s credibility among team members is enhanced when s/he acknowledges and appreciates the knowledge, beliefs, and issues of all team members and the constituencies they represent. In addition, the work of the team is enhanced when teacher leaders foster a climate in which differing perspectives are welcomed and taken into account as teams make instructional decisions. An MSP leader observed,
One of the failures of many leaders is that they are not team players in the sense that they view enabling the other team members to learn and take responsibilities as not really necessary. Generosity of leadership – sharing the burden and responsibilities and respecting the results – is often what makes good leaders.
It is helpful for a teacher leader providing leadership in a group setting to demonstrate credibility based on familiarity with different constituents (e.g., the teachers, administrators, and community members on a curriculum committee) and knowledge of their various needs and interests. This knowledge may develop with time in a group, or with experience in a teacher leader role, or may be accessed through another group member’s knowledge of the pertinent issues. Familiarity with team members’ perspectives contributes to a climate of respect within a team led by a teacher leader.
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.