Being a teacher leader

This chapter explores a key dimension in the evolving role of the teacher, that of teacher leadership. There is an increased emphasis on the active participation of teachers and other professionals in the ongoing development of a school as a professional learning community to enhance the conditions for effective learning. As part of this development the idea of ‘teacher leadership’ has come to the fore with an emphasis on the role teachers play in contributing to effective learning in and beyond their classrooms. However, the role that teacher leaders play in school is not without some controversy. In this chapter we will firstly, look critically at the contested nature of the term ‘teacher leadership’ by drawing on some of the theoretical discussions of distributed and teacher leadership. Then we will consider some case studies of teacher leadership to consider what it means to be a teacher leader in the classroom and in the wider school and the skills, understandings and practices that are necessary to enable teachers to take forward leadership roles