Why teachers ignore their leadership? & Why teacher leadership need to be improved?

May 31, 2011 ZHANG Yang (Allen) 4421293

I met William today on my way home. He was now interested in school leadership and wanted to do more research. He knew I worked as a secondary school PE teacher for one year before I came to Brock. He asked me whether I had any chance to be a leader. I said no, and never thought about to be a leader as soon as I was a teacher. He laughed at me for a while and then told me, ‘teacher also has leadership’, which made me feel shamed.

When leadership is mentioned, I always think about political leaders, but not educational leaders. However, when people mention ‘leaders in schools’, principals are recognized as the only leaders, while teachers and teacher leaders are usually ignored unconsciously. Most of teachers lack of consciousness of being leadership. Barth (2001) was once shocked by “I’m just a teacher!” He wrote the scence in Teacher Leader:

I was visiting a middle school known for its innovation. After engaging a teacher in conversation for a while, I asked her, “Do you take on some leader ship or this school?” “I’m just a teacher,” she replied. “If you want to talk with the leader, he’s down the hall in the principal’s office.” Clearly the question struck a nerve. It is alarming that the individuals so central to the learning process so often see themselves as incidental to the enterprise we call “school.” “I’m just a teacher,” indeed! (p443)

My own experience also proves that most of teachers lack of leadership idea as well as leadership skills in China. I also realized it was true that teachers, to some degree, were merely knowledge transmitters and they were seldom engaging in the decision-making process in schools.

However, why teacher leadership need to or must be improved? Many studies show that leading and learning are interrelated. According to York and Duke (2004), “teacher leaders grow in their understandings of instructional, professional, and organizational practice as they lead”. That is teacher leaders’ expertise about teaching and learning is improved greatly. What’s more, teacher expertise is at “the foundation for increasing teacher quality and advancements in teaching and learning;” this expertise becomes more widely available “when accomplished teachers model instructional practices, encourage sharing of best practices, mentor new teachers, and collaborate with teaching colleagues” (York & Duke, 2004). Therefore, enhance teacher leadership indeed increases teacher quality.

Teacher leaders, to some degree, have a vested interest and they care about what they do, how they do it and how it affects student learning. They are always making instructional decisions based on what is best for students. It has been posited that only when teachers learn will their students learn (Barth, 2001). Therefore, students will learn better under teacher leaders’ instruction, because teacher leadership leads to teacher growth and learning.

According to Hirsch (2006), empowerment and leadership opportunities were important factors in whether teachers said they would work in certain schools. Greater involvement in school leadership offers appeal to many accomplished teachers. Enhancing teacher’s leadership will retain good teachers, improve schools’ prestige and improve school’s development.

The reason for ignoring teacher leadership is the importance of teacher leadership has not been realized or emphasized. As a teacher, we need to learn leadership. Just as a famous saying goes, “the soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier.” So does a teacher. As a teacher, you should work hard to be a qualified educator, and then you can dream to be a department leader or grade leader, even principal. Only teacher has a desire to be a leader or learn leadership, can the teacher leadership be enhanced totally.

References

York, B. J. & Duke, K. (2004). What do we know about teacher leadership? Findings from two decades of scholarship. Educational Research, 74(3), 255-316.

Barth, R. S. (2001). Teacher leader. Phi Delta Kappan, 82(1), 443-449.

Hirsch, E. (2006). Recruiting and retaining teachers in Alabama: Educators on what it will take to staff all classrooms with quality teachers. Hillsborough, NC: Center for Teaching Quality. Retrieved November 1, 2007, from http://www.teachingquality.org/pdfs/al_recruitretain.pdf