A Research On The Role Of Teacher Leaders

The term of "Teacher Leadership" is an exotic word that originated in the wave of educational reform in the American public schools in 1980s.For the last three decades,scholars who are from the western countries,such as the United States,Canada,Australia,and the United Kingdom,have achieved great success about the research on the "Teacher Leadership".Compared with the vast foreign research,until 2005 it was introduced to the relevant educational research in China,but scholars hardly use the term of "Teacher Leadership" on the research.Since then,interest in how to ensure student learning and to improve schools has come under heightened scrutiny in the global society Moreover,teachers who become the teacher leaders will play a critical role in curriculum development.professional development,student achievement and school reform.Qualitative case study methods were used and included interviews and observations of the participants using shadowing techniques to examine the perspectives of the three groups of actors—Teacher Leaders,non-Teacher Leaders,and Principals—involved in the school.The goal of this research was to explore the development of teacher leadership in the public middle schools in China.The practices and impact of current,formally appointed teacher leaders in China,were closely examined as "Master Teacher","Mentor","Teacher Leader",for ease of drafting,the researcher used the term of "Teacher Leader" in this dissertation.The 10 participants included 4 Teacher Leaders,4 non-Teacher Leaders,and 2 Principals respectively from 2 middle schools in the same district in China.The constant comparative method was used to make within-case analysis and cross-case analysis.The core of this dissertation is to try to answer three research questions:1)What were the conditions conductive to challenging and supporting the development of Teacher Leaders?2)What were the espoused roles and actual roles of Teacher Leaders?3)What was the impact of Teacher Leaders on teacher's professional development and school improvement?As for the conditions of conductive to challenging and supporting the development of Teacher Leaders,there were 10 participants involved in this study,it infers four facilitating conditions for developing Teacher Leaders were noted.These facilitating conditions included the desire to advance,the principal's recognition and support,peers' respect and trust,and a positive and collaborative school culture.While they noted four challenging conditions:the overloaded work with limited time,work stress,lack of a positive school culture,and interpersonal conflicts.In the case study of the practical role and actual role of Teacher Leaders in this dissertation,it shows the espoused role of Teacher Leaders should be a leader on the teaching and management in the school.It is reflected in the three aspects:developing curriculum and instructin,attending to administration tasks,helping and supporting teachers,being an intermediary.They further illustrated that a teacher leader should have expertise including sharing content knowledge and instructional skills,a teacher leader should become a spiritual and cultural importer,to create a positive school culture,to exhibit positive and responsible working attitudes,to act in such a way that they could be respected and trusted by the principal and their colleagues,and to promote the success of the students.While the espoused roles of Teacher Leaders were associated with the catalyst for professional development of teachers.In terms of the impact of the Teacher Leaders on teacher's professional development and school development,there were four aspects to examine,including the impact on the Teacher Leaders themselves,peers,students,school.It showed that teacher leaders had a rich personal world,maintain a harmonious symbiotic relationship with the other teachers,have the ideal teaching effect for the students,and create a variety of cultural atmosphere in the school.The 10 participants indicate that becoming a teacher role model will promote their professional development,and the school reform,but also with the responsibilities they made,the pressure they faced.The findings of the study revealed that the Teacher Leaders were playing and practicing a leading role in the teacher groups within these two schools.The findings of the study also revealed that the Teacher Leaders in this case study exerted their leadership,which was consistent with the teacher leaders' practices identified in the literature.The innovation of this study is reflected in the empirical findings and theoretical themes through the cross-case study will hopefully fill the gap in the teacher leadership literature in China.Moreover,the researcher applies for the constant comparative method with open coding and analyze under the guideline of the grounded theory.In addition,compared to the western literature,the researcher also provides a fresh perspective in this dissertation It would help more scholars to learn more about the teacher leadership in different contexts,the research made the key points stand out,such as the "intermediary" between the teachers;the importance of a positive school culture,and the difficulties in dealing with the interpersonal relationships.The research on the conditions,roles and impacts of Teacher Leaders would build the throretically and empirically about the teacher leaders' development in our country.