Module 3 - Part 2 and 3 (A Lambert)

Question:
There are typically three pathways to teacher leadership for practicing teachers: a pathway for teachers who leave their classrooms to move into formal administrative positions as school leaders, a pathway for teachers who remain in their classrooms to develop and share a deeper knowledge base about teaching with their students and colleagues, and a pathway that  bridges the two previously mentioned paths, that is for teachers who spend part of their time in a classroom and part of their time taking on additional administrative and professional development responsibilities. If you were designing a program or professional development intended to prepare teacher leaders to take advantage of these multiple pathways, what would it look like? What learning experiences would you include?

Response:
While I am not currently a teacher, I have worked in the school system for several years. Most of the complaints I have heard stem from teachers feeling that mandates in how and what they teach are handed down from "the top" by administrators who "forget what it's like to be in the classroom". Given the opportunity, I would create a professional development intended to help teachers move toward a teacher leadership role and work together with administration for the betterment of the learning community.

Question:
In her interview, Moller discusses the role of the principal in teacher leadership. What have you observed in your experiences? Did you observe principals or other administrators supporting teachers in leadership roles, sharing the responsibility for providing leadership to initiatives in the school with teachers, engaging in what we call "distributed leadership" with teachers or other specialists? Moller also includes a list of three things she thinks need to occur in the future to promote teacher leadership (near the end of the interview transcript). Think about these three things and whether or not you think they would make a difference from your perspective.

Response:
As a secretary, I worked for 9 years at the Central Office and the last couple years within a school. My observation is that the teacher/principal relationship is complex. The administration I have worked with have had a variety of leadership styles. I believe that I have seen leadership styles that encourage teacher leadership roles, as well as those that discourage it. The administration that supported teacher leadership roles have had more successful schools and relationships with their staff.

In her interview, Moller lists three things that she thinks need to occur in the future to promote teacher leadership: These include:
More meaningful career ladders for teachers.
Merit pay.
Addressing working conditions.
From my perspective, these steps would definitely encourage teacher leadership. As Moller states, teaching is seen as a "flat profession". We need to move away from that and encourage teachers to strive for more within their profession.