Teachers Who Grow As Collaborative Leaders

Abstract

The following narratives examine three teachers over a course of ten years as they first entered teaching and began to collaborate with other teachers on curriculum. Specifically, the study examines how the teachers 1) developed as collaborators and 2) perceived elements of support from both within and outside the classroom for their collaborative efforts. The article argues that the successful collaborative efforts helped deepen their sense of agency and initiative within their teaching and, to a lesser degree, stimulated reform and change within their schools. In turn and to varying degrees, the process of collaboration supported their personal renewal in their work. The article suggests that structural support for these teachers that connected to their emerging personal practical knowledge was crucial for their development as

Quality schooling in the Network Society: a community approach through the everyday use of the internet

“…We are facing a school culture or climate (see Van Houte, 2005, for an interesting terminological discussion) that, as far as an approach like ours is concerned, has been showing a positive and consistent link between the different aspects involved in community building and the improvement of schools (see, e.g., Becher, 1984;Blank, Melaville, & Shah, 2003;Bryk & Driscoll, 1988;Bryk & Schneider, 2002;M. Cohen, 1983;Coleman & Hoffer, 1987;Hickman, Greenwood, & Miller, 1995;Lieberman, 1990;Little & McLaughlin, 1993;Mortimore et al, 1988;Sawyer, 2001;Stoll & Fink, 1994;Wohlstetter, Smith, Polhemus, & Hao, 2001). The focus turns to key aspects such as, among others, encouraging a shared vision with common values and goals, establishing rules for effective collaboration, creating and fostering a sense of belonging, enabling and supporting a participative leadership based on the interdependence and autonomy of the multiple actors included, involving parents and enabling them to participate, and encouraging the school to be open to establishing relationships in its local context.…”

La generación de capital social en el sistema educativo no universitario: un análisis del desarrollo comunitario de las escuelas de Cataluña

“…Aspectos como la promoción y el desarrollo de una visión, de unos valores y de unos objetivos conjuntos (Stoll y Fink, 1994;Louis y Miles, 1990;Rosenholtz, 1989;Coleman y Hoffer, 1987;Cohen, 1983;Lightfoot, 1983), el establecimiento de normas para la colaboración (Blank, Melaville y Shah, 2003;McLaughlin, 1993;Little, 1982), el desarrollo de una estrategia de liderazgo participativo en torno a la promoción de la autonomía de todos los actores implicados (Sawyer, 2001;Wohlstetter, 1995;Lieberman, 1990;Stedman, 1987), el compromiso y la participación de los padres (Wholstetter y otros, 2001;Hickman, 1996;Hickman, Greenwood y Miller, 1995;Dornbusch y Ritter, 1988;Becher, 1984;Tizard, Schofield y Hewison, 1982), la promoción de las relaciones con el contexto local (Blank y otros, 2003;Wholstetter y otros, 2001;Louis y Miles, 1990;Coleman y Hoffer, 1987), la generación de un sentimiento de pertenencia (Goodenow, 1993;Mortimore y otros, 1988) o el propio desarrollo comunitario en el contexto de la escuela (Bryk y Schneider, 2002;Wholstetter y otros, 2001;Lee y otros, 1993;Bryk y Driscoll, 1988), han resultado ser claves para el óptimo funcionamiento de un sistema escolar.…”

The effect of teacher leader interactions with teachers on student achievement: a predictive study.

“…Teacher leaders saw their primary function as supporting the instructional practice of teaching colleagues in their schools, developing knowledge and insight about instruction, and influencing school-wide leadership decisions (Beattie, 2002;Cruz, 2003;Frost & Durrant, 2002;Hatch et aI., 2005;Little, 1995;Mangin, 2005;Sawyer, 2001;Silva et aI., 1996;Smylie & Denny, 1990;Spillane et aI., 2003). However, when compared to other job responsibilities, teacher leaders spent less time interacting with peers about teaching practices (Smylie & Denny) than in any other leadershiprelated activities.…”

“…The remaining five researchers reviewed in this section (Ovando, 1996;Silva et al, 1996;Sawyer, 2001;Cruz, 2003;Middlebrooks, 2004) approached classroom teachers as teacher leaders from the perspective of how these teachers influenced other teachers while simultaneously fulfilling the obligations of a full-time classroom teacher.…”