Turning Good Teachers into Great Leaders

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Turning Good Teachers into Great Leaders

• National Principals Forum
• Washington, D.C.
• Thursday, October 7, 2004
• Terry Dozier, Director
• Center for Teacher Leadership
• Virginia Commonwealth University
• School of Education

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Why Teacher Leadership?
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Partner Conversations3-2-1 Protocol

• 3 Reasons principals should promote teacher
  leadership.
• 2 Challenges principals face in promoting
  teachers as leaders.
• 1 Thing that I, as a principal, can do to promote
  teacher leadership.

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Why Teacher Leadership?

• Educational change depends on what teachers do
  and think. Its as simple and as complex as
  that. -Michael Fullan

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Why Teacher Leadership?

• Cultivates a largely untapped resource for change
  and improvement in schools.
• Keeps good teachers in the classroom.

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What New Teachers Want

• Teamwork and support
• Professional opportunities that include
  leadership opportunities
• Fair pay and a differentiated pay structure that
  rewards outstanding performance, acquiring new
  skills, and assuming new roles and
  responsibilities.

Source Susan Moore Johnson, Harvard researcher
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Why Teacher Leadership?

• Cultivates a largely untapped resource for change
  and improvement in schools.
• Keeps good teachers in the classroom.
• Benefits students.
• Provides principals with much-needed assistance.

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Teacher Leaders Can . . .

• model effective practice
• mentor new and struggling teachers
• lead professional development activities
• raise the level of collaboration at your school
• be effective advocates for students and the
  profession

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Who are Teacher Leaders?

• Teacher leaders. . .
• encourage colleagues to change, to do things
  they wouldnt ordinarily consider without the
  influence of the leader. --Wasley
• lead within and beyond the classroom, identify
  with and contribute to a community of teacher
  learners and leaders, and influence others toward
  improved educational practice. --Katzenmeyer
  and Moller
• engage colleagues in experimentation and then
  examine more powerful instructional practices in
  the service of engaged student learning.
  --Pellicer and Anderson

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Teacher Leaders . . .

• are excellent teachers.
• influence others.

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Activity Instructions for Give-One-Get-One

• Jot down 3 ways you are using teachers as leaders
  within your school.
• Get up and find someone at another table.
• GIVE ONE idea from your list to your partner.
  GET ONE idea for your list from your partner.
• Move to a new partner and repeat the process.
• If your list and your partners list are
  identical, you must brainstorm together an idea
  that can be added to both of your list.
• NOTE Exchange no more than one strategy with
  any given partner.

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Teacher Leaders . . .

• are excellent teachers.
• influence others.

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What do accomplished teachers need and want to be
effective leaders?

How do we turn good teachers into great leaders?
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Survey of Accomplished Teachers

• Self perceptions
• Perceptions of the characteristics of a teacher
  leader
• Leadership roles played and training received
• Desired leadership roles
• Needs with regard to training

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Methodology

• Purposeful sample of recognized teachers
• Teachers of the Year
• National Board Certified Teachers
• Disney Teachers
• Milken Educators
• Presidential Math and Science Awardees

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The Sample

• Teacher listservs and networks
• National Teacher Forum Listserv
• NBPTS Network Advisory Committee Networks
• Southeastern Virginia NBCT Network
• Virginia Teacher Forum

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Respondents

• Survey link was sent to approximately 300
  teachers, 179 responded (60 response rate).
• Virginia was over sampled
• 37 states had at least one respondent, most
  likely a former State Teacher of the Year or
  runner up.

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Years of Teaching Experience
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Areas of Recognition
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Results of Survey of Accomplished Teachers

• Recognized teachers are confident about
  themselves as teacher leaders.

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Recognized Teachers are Confident About
Themselves as Teacher Leaders
97
96
82
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Most Common Leadership Roles

• Staff Development (93)
• Curriculum Development (84)
• Grade Level/Department Chair (84)
• Mentoring New Teachers (82)
• Coaching Experienced Teachers (65)

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Self Perception of Leadership Skills
I have the knowledge and skills to. . .
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Results of Survey of Accomplished Teachers

• Recognized teachers are confident about
  themselves as teacher leaders.

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Results of Survey of Accomplished Teachers

• Recognized teachers are confident about
  themselves as teacher leaders.
• Recognized teachers, however, lack confidence in
  key areas.

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Teacher Leaders Lack Confidence in Key Areas

• I am knowledgeable about. . .
• The No Child Left Behind Act (14).
• The needs of educational policymakers and skilled
  at discussing policy with them (11).
• My states procedure for adopting educational
  policy (10).

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Results of Survey of Accomplished Teachers

• Recognized teachers are confident about
  themselves as teacher leaders.
• Recognized teachers, however, lack confidence in
  key areas.
• Recognized teachers believe that the most
  important role of a teacher leader is to be an
  advocate for students and the teaching
  profession.

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Important Characteristics of Teacher Leaders
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Disconnect Between the Perceived Role of Teacher
Leaders and the Skills Needed
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Training Received

• Have you received training for ALL of the
  leadership roles you have played? (N177)
• Yes 18
• No 82

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Mentoring and Coaching
38 NT
47 NT
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Educational Policy and Issues
53 NT
79 NT
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Desired Leadership Roles

• Please select the TOP THREE areas in which you
  have NOT served as a teacher leader but would
  like to serve as one. (N 179)
• TOP THREE ARE
• Teacher Recruitment
• Educational Policy and Issues
• Advisor to Policymaking Group
• 95 of the respondents chose one of these
  three areas.

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Recognized Teachers Want Training to Help Them
Become Effective in the Policy Arena Top 3
Aspects of Teacher Leadership in Which Additional
Training is Needed
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Training Needed

• Please select the TOP THREE aspects of teacher
  leadership for which you feel you need additional
  training (N179)
• Every respondent chose Understanding
  Educational Policy and Issues or Working
  Collaboratively With Educational Policy Makers as
  one area in which they needed training.

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Barriers to Teacher Leadership

• Time
• Lack of training

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Conclusions

• Self Perceptions
• Characteristics of a Teacher leader
• Lots of leadership roles/positions
• Not trained for all
• Almost no leadership in policy and those who did
  leadhad no training
• Recognized teachers want to be trained in and
  have opportunities to influence educational
  policy.

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Teacher Leadership Pyramid
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Wrapping it Up
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What is one thing I learned today that squares
with my experiences with teacher leadership?
What questions about teacher leadership are still
going around in my head?
What are 3 new ideas about teacher leadership
that Im taking away from todays session?
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Teachers harbor extraordinary leadership
capabilities, and their leadership potential is a
major untapped resource for improving our
nations schools. The world will come to accept
that all teachers can lead, as many now accept
that all children can learn. . .if we can
overcome the many impediments facing teachers. .
.that block teachers leading and if we can find
conditions under which teachers will exercise
that leadership.
--Roland Barth