“Leadership Quotes”

Challenges
of teacher
Leaders
 Teacher who have been in the
field for four to ten years are at the
point in their careers when they have
already gained enough experience and
expertise which could be used to help
other teacher.
 Another reason why these teachers are
ready to embark on leadership role is
because it is a way for them to reach out to
other teachers. As teachers, it cannot be
discounted that most of the work done
remains between the teacher and the
students (Rasberry and Mahajan, 2008).
 Lastly, these teacher who are ready to
move on to leadership roles see these as an
opportunity to grow. There are teachers
who are also in need of doing other things
in order to grow professionally ( Johnson
and Donaldson, 2007).
 In the study conducted by Johnson
and Donaldson (2007), teachers are
confronted with issues that revolve around
the norms of school culture. Among issues
identified are autonomy, egalitarianism,
and deference to seniority.
 Autonomy has been identified as one of the
reasons; teacher leaders find it difficult to work
with others. Teachers are so used being in charge
of their own class that some are not so eager to
welcome other teachers who are willing to help,
let alone observe them. This then, defeats the
purpose of teachers working together to improve
the teaching process.
 Egalitarianism has been identified as
a challenge to teacher leaders. The added
responsibility requires teacher leaders to
be in constant communication with school
administrators and this presents an issue to
most teachers.
 Teacher leaders are perceived by
other teachers as being given special
treatment when the truth is, the only
reason that they are constantly with
administrators or supervisor is because
they need to coordinate plans with the
higher administration.
 Finally, teacher leaders find it difficult
to share their expertise with others because too
often, their age is being equated with
qualifications. Based in the above mentioned
study, older teachers find it hard to accept that
the younger teachers are more qualified to
share their knowledge and expertise and as
such, this often leads to resentment.
 In the Philippines, there are various re
asons why teachers are deterred from
assuming leadership roles. One the
educational system is so entrenched on the
“principal-oriented” nature of leadership.
This means that for most schools in the
Philippines, the concept of leadership is
still attributed to formal roles.
 Two, there is a lack of leadership training
existing in the country which prevents teachers
from assuming leadership roles. Three, teacher
classification hinders teachers from becoming
leaders. Classifications would revolve around
teaching positions which is based on qualifications
rather than functions. (Alegado, 2018).
Aside from those mentioned by Alegado, there
are other challenges that prevent teachers from
assuming leadership roles.
• Teachers are afraid that if they assume a
leadership role, their relationship with collea
gues will be affected.
• Most teachers do not want to be labelled as
“pro-admin” or a favorite of the principal
• Circumstances in life prevent many
from assuming leadership roles. Those
who are married would prioritize their
family over work.
• Some teachers on the other hand would
attribute the lack of time for not
accepting leadership roles.
 Those who assumed informal leadership
roles attend to a lot of responsibilities and this
would means staying at school for a longer period
of time. This does not encourage other teachers
from assuming similar roles for fear that they too
would not have enough time to do their other
responsibilities at home (Oracion, 2015)
 With the challenges faced by teacher leaders, it
is imperative that these issues be seriously looked into.
There are so many things that teacher leaders can
contribute in the teaching-learning process. As such,
these challenges should be addressed so that more
teachers will finally have the courage and motivation
to take on leadership roles.
PROMOTING
TEACHER
LEADERSHIP
 There are several factors that pave way for
teachers to become leaders:
1. The teacher’s background and previous
experience on leadership.
2. The competence of the principal.
3. The practice of distributed leadership.
4. Collaboration and consultation also paved way
for teachers to assume leadership roles.
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5. The fact that principals defined their
role as an influencer paved way for
others to follow the examples of their
leaders.
6. The principals are good motivators.
7. Most of the principals were focused
on instruction.
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New Developments in Education
1. New forms of assessments are becoming
more accepted and used by educators.
• Performance – based assessments are being
used more than standardized based
assessments. The shift from a traditional
paper and pencil form of assessment leads to
a new form of evaluating students.
2. Organizational structures are becoming leaner
and flatter making it possible for teachers to
collaborate closely as they are provided more
autonomy and freedom in decision making.
• Teachers can now work closely together and can
share practices that work with the students. The
fact that they are no longer bound by restrictive
policies will enable new teacher leader to make
decisions based on what they deem is
appropriate for their students.
3. Teachers have more opportunities to
network with other teachers making a
possible to bench mark and share
practices(Shwartz, 2016).
• Technological advancements and more
opportunities given to teachers allow for
more collaboration. By providing teachers
platforms to discuss their experiences and
share best practices.
 The new developments require new types
of leaders to emerge in education. Berry
concludes that in order to promote teacher
leaders, the following must be present
1. An idea and plan for teacher leadership –
there should be a clear direction of the tasks
to be done and should involve the teachers
in the formulation of the goals.
2. A helpful administration –
administration should be able to
empower teachers by providing them
with opportunities to make decisions
and at the same time establish
leadership programs that will further
hone the leadership skills of teachers.
3. There should be appropriate resources –
there should be available support given to the
development of teachers in order for them to
grow professionally.
4. Works structure should allow authentic
collaboration – a more innovative approach to
embedding professional development is
necessary for teachers to able to engage in
more authentic collaboration.
5. Supportive social norms and working
relationships – respecting differences is
important because it signifies an
acknowledgement of varying expertise.
6. There should be indistinct lines that
delineate teaching and leading – empowering
teachers does not mean there will be a shift of
roles between the administrators and the
teachers, however, it would require that both
need to work together in order to lead.
7. The whole school system must be willing
to take risks and should pursue an inquiry
approach in assessing the teaching – learning
process – schools and teachers should be
willing to take risks, to try to innovate and learn
from the process. Schools should assess how
they promote the development of teachers and
see how these will ultimately impact on student
learning (Berry, 2016)