Teacher leadership is alive in the day-to-day realities of some colleges in Mauritius. Personal experiences initially formed my understanding about teacher leadership, but as I pursued my P.G.C.E. studies, I was exposed to numerous perspectives of teacher leadership that both challenged and expanded my understanding of what can be teacher leadership. Defining teacher leadership can be problematic. It is hard to strictly define what makes a teacher, a teacher leader. The definition of teacher leadership remains varied because teachers engage in such a wide range of activities and roles that may involve leadership. Even researchers are at odds on how best to define teacher leadership. According to Katzenmeyer and Moller:
Teachers who are leaders lead within and beyond the classroom, identify with and contribute to a community of teacher learners and leaders, and influence others towards improved educational performance. (2001)
Harris and Muijs have argued that teacher leadership is:
[...] a form of agency where teachers are empowered to lead development work that impacts directly upon the quality of teaching and learning. (2003)
The definitional problem of teacher leadership is best articulated by York-Barr and Duke, who argued that:
Teacher leadership is the process by which teachers, individually or collectively; influence their colleagues, principals, and other members of the school community to improve teaching and learning practices with the aim of increased student learning and achievement. (2004)
As an educator, this definition fits both my world view about teacher leadership and it makes logical sense for the purposes of my study. According to me, teacher leadership is certainly occurring in practice. Teachers have historically stepped out of their traditional role as a teacher and into formalized roles within the school hierarchy in order to lead. They have begun to lead without leaving the role of classroom teacher. Today, leadership roles have begun to emerge and promise real opportunities for teachers. The major findings of this study are as follows: (a) changing roles of teacher leaders (b) the issue I want to tackle (poverty/needy students) (c) the 8-step process for leading the change (Dr. Kotter's methodology).
Changing roles of teacher leaders
Schools are just too complex today not to have some type of collaborative leadership construct. In order to sustain school improvement and effectiveness, school leadership is no longer to be located in a single person or certain administrators. I strongly believe that the success of any school improvement effort is contingent upon the leadership capacity of an organization. A school leader often refers to the principal, directors, administrators, mentors or head-masters. A principal being the sole instructional leader in school is inadequate and increasingly difficult. Today, a teacher has a more complex set of roles and responsibilities than ever before. In order to face the challenges of this new millennium and the rapidly changing world, the role of today's teachers is no longer merely a knowledge transmitter. Teachers have to take up extra administrative duties. They have to assume roles of leadership to maximise student learning, to take on more responsibilities for a school wide change and to sustain healthy school environments. I have experienced working with both informal and formal teachers who have challenged me professionally. Thus, in analysing the changing roles of teacher leaders, my own thoughts on teacher leadership and how it develops were kept in check at all times. In the past, teachers were leaders in a very limited scope. They were either head of the department or association leaders. Unfortunately, some teachers never viewed themselves as potential leaders. They focused only on transmitting knowledge to students. They were either happy of being a mere knowledge transmitter or they were too hesitant to embrace leadership roles. The society also never viewed teachers as leaders. Leadership roles for teachers have traditionally lacked flexibility and required a lengthy, ongoing commitment of time and energy. Often the decision to take on leadership tasks has been accompanied by a decision to get out of teaching and join the administration. Teachers did not have many opportunities to grow within the profession or to bring any kind of change in the overall culture of education. In a traditional school, only formal administrative roles have access to positional power.
Today, teachers have grown out of the tradition of hierarchical leadership. They have stepped down from their traditional role in order to lead. Currently researchers are beginning to distinguish between formal and informal teacher leaders. Birky, Shelton and Headley characterise formal teacher leaders as:
[...] those given familiar titles and the positions are generally identified by the principal and compensated either by additional salary or in exchange for lighter teaching roles. (2006)
According to Patterson and Patterson:
They serve as department heads, grade-level chairpersons, team leaders, mentors for new teachers, peer coaches, or members of curriculum development task forces. (2004)
In the other hand, teachers exercise informal leadership in their schools by sharing their expertise, by volunteering for new projects and by bringing new ideas to the school. They work for the improvement of the school or the school system. They also demonstrate their leadership skills by coaching peers to resolve instructional problems, by encouraging parent participation and by working in teams with colleagues. They work collaboratively to solve problems, make decisions, manage conflict and promote meaningful change.
We have analysed how teachers now assume a wide range of roles to support schools' success. Whether these roles are assigned formally or informally, teachers do help in alleviating the complexities and problems of the school. Childs-Bowen, Moller and Scrivner maintain that:
We believe teachers are leaders when they function in professional learning communities to affect student learning; contribute to school improvement; inspire excellence in practice; and empower stakeholders to participate in educational improvement. (2000)
Teacher leadership is not about empowering teachers. It is all about sharing professional knowledge, accepting challenges and pursuing professional growth for their own satisfaction and to increase students' achievement. Like a fine wine, leadership capacity takes time to mature. The application of teacher leadership will undoubtedly vary from school to school. Some schools have well documented processes that empower teacher leaders while others are in their infancy in their exploration of teacher leadership. I strongly believe that principals must create school climates that are conducive to the development of teacher leadership.
What is the issue? Why is it an issue?
As an ethical and professional educator, the issue of poverty in my school cannot be overlooked. I have witnessed the many obstacles associated with needy students in my school. There are certain students who come to school empty handed, without any school material. I cannot even reprimand those students for coming empty handed because they are truly needy students. They don't even have the most basic materials to study. School materials are a serious problem. Parents are unable to provide supplies like pencils, paper, school uniforms and textbooks. In my class, due to book shortage, three children share one book. Poverty leads those needy students to exclude themselves from some school experiences. Thus, I have a long standing interest in reducing poverty within the school compound. I strongly believe that needy children, regardless of family income or circumstances, have the right to the full benefits of publicly funded education. Every day at school, I witness how the needy suffer from low-esteem and low confidence. They are not motivated at all to learn. The strong correlation between socio-economic status and children's academic performance is well established. Flessa had prepared a review of the literature, where she said that:
The socially just response to what we know about the relationship between poverty and schooling is not only to work within schools to improve the quality of schooling children receive, but also to work outside of schools to address the poverty that negatively shapes students' learning opportunities to begin with. Schools, in other words are important, but they cannot do it alone. (2007)
I value equity as a prominent goal for public schools. I cannot overlook the social and emotional needs of my students that manifest in classrooms every day. I have to find ways to construct a school funding structure that will be responsive to students' needs. I have to find ways to make academic materials available to students. As an effective teacher leader, I have to promote the learning of all the students. This is a serious issue because students cannot study due to lack of school materials. It hampers learning. Teachers in my school are not able to teach properly. Without textbooks, teachers cannot improve the quality of teaching and learning. Needy students are having a very difficult time with succeeding in school. They have a delayed cognitive development, lower achievement, less participation and interrupted school attendance. Poverty discourages survival to higher grades. Amartya Sen (1992, 2001) broadened my understanding about poverty by defining it as a condition that results in an absence of the freedom to choose arising from a lack of what he refers to as the capability to function effectively in society. Bruner writes that:
[...] schools must also contribute to the social and emotional development of the child if they are to fulfil their function of education. (1977)
The 8-step process for leading change
(Dr. Kotter's methodology)
Create a sense of urgency
To lead a change, I have to express a sense of urgency about the issue of poverty in the school. I have to talk to the school principal, administrators and teachers about the alarming situation. I need to explain to them how it is essential to help our needy students to develop as individuals and raise themselves out of poverty. As school leaders, we have a profession where we have opportunities to change lives. We cannot deprive our students of educational opportunities. We have to assist our students to discover their talents, interests, resources and opportunities. I take the case study of a Form III student in my class. Her name is Sandu. I chose Sandu only after observing her in the classroom. She comes to school empty handed with no pencils and no textbooks. She does not do any homework as her parents cannot afford to provide her with basic school materials. Her academic performance is very low. The few times she did some work on a piece of paper, it was very sloppy. She has the potential to do so much more in class because when giving oral response, she understands the daily lessons, but fails with written work due to lack of school materials. When I ask other teachers, Sandu is consistently being described as a student who has the potential to excel academically, but poverty is her problem. There are hundred cases like Sandu in the school compound. If we as leaders do not find ways to reduce the growing inequality in education between rich and poor, schools will no longer be the great equalizer we want them to be. We sincerely do not want our students to drop-out of school due to poverty. This is a critical situation. It is a deplorable fact that poverty can be a big hurdle even in a public school.
To lead the change, I am using the concept of transformational leadership, where I have to motivate my followers by raising their consciousness about the seriousness of the issue and by inspiring them to transcend their own self-interest for the sake of the school. This is an ongoing process by which "leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of morality and motivation." (Burns, Leadership, 1978) Burns was influenced by Abraham Maslow's theory of Human Needs. This theory recognises that people have a range of needs, and the extent to which they will perform effectively in the workplace will be affected by the extent to which these needs are satisfied. I have to inspire and motivate those around me to shape a positive school culture and to contribute to its effectiveness. My transformational leadership quality will get people to want to change, improve and be led. Hallinger (2003) puts that transformational leadership models conceptualise leadership as an organisational entity rather than the task of a single individual. It is also a way for me to increase my commitment towards my school. I have to prove my inspirational motivation, my intellectual stimulation, my charisma and my individualised attention to be an authentic transformational leader. I sincerely want to serve the needy students, empower them and inspire them to achieve great success.
Creating the Guiding Coalition
The high sense of urgency I create, shall help enormously in putting the guiding coalition. In this step, I have to put together a group with power to lead the change. The guiding coalition combined the school principal, administrators, twenty-five teaching staffs and PTA members. We have a financial issue. Involving PTA members in the team may come to our financial help. The teaching staffs reflect a mix of both formal and informal leaders. Among the PTA members, there are individuals who are committed to the long-term success of the school and have power, status, influence and willingness to lead. Using a transformational style of leadership, I do require the involvement of the school principal to meet the goals. Every member has his own unique set of skills. Having diverse membership allows the guiding coalition to: (a) see all sides of an issue (b) enable the most innovative ideas to emerge (c) provide kind of credibility that is so crucial to the success of school improvement efforts. It is evident that I just cannot start such a big change all by myself or with just two people. I fully understand that nothing worthwhile can be achieved without some minimum mass. This guiding coalition can keep on growing overtime. If I don't create a powerful enough guiding coalition, my project may come to a failure.
Developing a change vision
In this step, I'll have to prove my decision-making and problem-solving skills. I have to show that I have the ability to use knowledge, facts and data to effectively solve problems. Problem-solving devotes considerable attention to the concept of 'expertise'. Expertise is associated with both effective and efficient problem-solving within a particular domain of activity. As Simon argues:
[...] any expert can recognise the symptoms, the clues, to the bulk of the situations that are encountered in his or her every day experience. The day would simply not be long enough to accomplish anything if cues didn't do a large part of the work for the expert. (1993)
I have to access all of the knowledge I have stored in long-term memory about how to solve this issue. As an efficient leader, I solve problems by: devoting considerable up front attention to interpreting the exact nature of the problem, anticipating most of the constraints likely to be encountered in solving the problem and planning ways of dealing with them before they were encountered, and setting clear, short-term and long-term goals to simplify excessively complex challenge. I have to develop quite detailed solutions based on considerable amounts of relevant data. My goal is to minimise problems and to anticipate the change. The way to handle a change is to problem-solve creatively, to be open to new possibilities and avenues that may not at first, even seem plausible.
This clear vision will provide guidance to the guiding coalition by articulating what it wishes to attain. Seeley (1992) describes vision as a "goal-oriented mental construct that guides people's behaviour." Our issue is about finance and supplying school materials. Thus, I come up with fundraising ideas within the school community. Fundraising will help in providing school materials for the needy students. We can have bake sales. This can bring money because there is little or no actual capital required. Things we have to keep in mind for a successful fundraising are: advertise as much as we can and to present the cakes nicely. We can even ask local shops to sell the cakes at their counter. Tombola also can be of great help. Tombola is a form of raffle in which prizes are pre-assigned to winning tickets. Or, the customers have to wait for a draw to take place. If with the help of students, parents and teachers, we can sell 1000 tickets (Rs 5 per ticket), we will be getting Rs 5000. I have to ask for sponsorship for Tombola prizes though. The money raised will be used to provide school materials to needy students. We have to look for a library that sells copybooks for bulk orders on discounts. We can contact local businesses to provide support for the fundraising. General school volunteers may help in funding books, copybooks, pencils and so on.
Communicating the vision for Buy-in
For the remaining steps, I'll be using the democratic leadership style. Democratic leadership plays an integral role in achieving democracy, because leadership is associated with public values, freedom, equality and justice. I have to enhance democratic values within the school community. In a democratic leadership style, I have to listen and share ideas with my followers. Communication is multidirectional while ideas are exchanged between members and the leader. Democratic leadership style relies on the fundamental value of democracy that is "striving toward equality and freedom." (Weldo, 2001) Being a democratic leader, my concerns for needy students are justified.
A system of education in a democratic society must not only be open to all its citizens, but must take a concerted effort to succeed in well educating them. In practice, this means paying attention to the differing situations of children entering the educational system. (Boisvert)
To communicate my vision to the guiding coalition, I'll have to prove my communication skills. Good judgement will be wasted unless I effectively communicate my vision. Inappropriate communication can be one of the mistakes leaders make. Too often leaders do not communicate, over communicate or communicate inappropriately through anger and swearing. It is important to communicate without using slang words. I have to communicate the vision in a way that is meaningful. I have to use a language that leads to a common understanding of the message being communicated. It will be appropriate to call for a meeting to communicate my vision. Thus, giving opportunity to the members to ask questions and give their opinions.
Our goal is to support the needy students so that they can have a good education. We can help the poor students financially to learn just like any other normal student. Education is the only way for them to get out of poverty. We can look for creative ways together to help those unfortunate students. Today, more than ever, a good education is critical to the economic and social well-being of those children. Each of us can make a difference in the quality and impact of a student's education. It will take all of us to ensure that the needy students learn what they need to learn and succeed. Most of these needy students are from disadvantaged homes and they are coming to socialise with some students who are from better placed homes economically. If we do not help them, they may feel out of place.
Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. YOU can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom. (Nelson Mandela)
Empowering broad-based action
I strongly believe that empowering broad-based action is a necessary step. Many change efforts fail due to insufficient attention to this step. Change is inevitable whether we realise it or not, it happens. While allocating different tasks to people and getting things done, I will undoubtedly come across barriers and resistance. When I will ask for sponsorships from eminent personalities, I am sure that not everyone will offer their help. I must identify and eliminate barriers that hinder the change. When asking for help from PTA members, parents and teachers, some may actively or passively resist to change. As I am gradually getting things done and building up the team, I will come across barriers which I will have to eliminate on the spot. My lack of status within the school can hinder my ability to lead. This is one area where the wisdom of an effective leader in selecting a guiding coalition whose members come from different levels of organization with position power, credibility, expertise and leadership responsibilities pays off a huge way. Other teachers may not accept me as the designated leader. They may thus be unwilling to participate in the selling of Tombola tickets. When I have removed all the barriers and obstacles that were hindering the project, I can now allocate tasks to those people who are really willing to participate in the change. I will put up a strong team with sincere and dedicated members. I will delegate responsibilities to teachers, who will give Tombola sheets to their students. These students shall then sell the Tombola tickets within or outside the school compound. I will sort and arrange prizes sponsored by companies or affluent persons. The process of delegation will prove the management skills that I have as a leader. I certainly need assistance in completing the tasks. A good delegation will save me time, develops and motivates other people.
Generating short-term wins
Appropriately after six months since the distribution of Tombola sheets, we have now raised some funds. Short-term wins like this are very essential. It prevents loss of momentum and it keeps the guiding coalition engaged. It eliminates discouragement. It provides real evidence about the validity of the change vision. It motivates to continue the change and decreases resistance among critics towards the change. The generation of funds raised will undoubtedly be used in the best interest of the needy students. With the help of parents, students and teachers, a minimum of 2000 tickets (Rs 5 per ticket) can be sold within six months. A lot can be done to help the needy students with Rs 10 000. Provision of textbooks and learning materials will be of utmost importance. Since textbooks and other instructional materials have a direct impact on what is taught at the school and how it is taught, curriculum materials are of great importance. It is important to use the raised funds as efficiently as possible.
Don't let up
I have to consolidate the gains and produce more change. Resistance is always waiting in the wings to re-assert itself. I will have to continue the task until people that are slow to adopt the change have been converted. I will have to keep setting new goals after small goals are reached. The guiding coalition has to focus on finding more ways to overcome effects of poverty on children.
Some say we can't fix education until we fix poverty. It's exactly the opposite; we can't fix poverty until we fix education. (Kati Haycock, 2010)
The guiding coalition will have to continue with the noble act of helping needy students. A community approach and community organization can be helpful to connect needy students to good education. I must aim for broader social and economical reforms. Educational leaders and the guiding coalition can become a great force if joined with those who advocate for social and economic reforms in the society. We have to continue reaching out to parents and affluent persons for help. We can even contact NGOs who can help in providing educational materials like: textbooks, notebooks, geometry box, pencils, pens and so on. A well-stocked library can be of great help to the needy students. At the end, funding does not lead automatically to better results. The way resources are spent is more important than the total amount spent.
Make it stick
How do I make this change stick? The answer is very simple: keep at it. Cultural shifts can happen in the school only when new behaviours are displayed, over and over again, to achieve results. New behaviours need to be truly woven into the fabric of the school culture. I believe that getting succession right is very crucial, especially when replacing a member of the guiding coalition. I will have to make sure that the successor understands the importance and the value of the change and understands where the team stands in the progress toward the change. Future leaders should have enthusiasm for the new practices. It is also important that the guiding coalition continue to support the change. I will make fund-raising a shared responsibility of the school. Not only does this distribute the workload more evenly, it also helps everyone to feel invested in the process. For example: I can hold a competition between departments for who can raise more. Fund-raising is all about relationships. The real money comes on the back end as I develop relationships with those donors who responded to my initial prospecting letter. I have to remain committed to creating fund-raising culture at the school. It can take years to fully gain the support of everyone, but this ongoing effort is worth it.
Conclusion
I strongly believe that the realisation of teacher leadership must be supported by a caring and collaborative school culture. The practice of teacher leadership establishes the possibility of all teachers to become leaders at various times. It is a very powerful concept as it is built upon the creation of collegiality in school that contributes directly to school effectives. Teacher leadership recognises that all teachers can be leaders and that their ability to lead has a significant influence upon the quality of education in school. Therefore, ways must be found to encourage more teachers to actively participate in school decision-making.
References
York-Barr Duke, What do we know about teacher leadership? 2004 (online)
James Coleman, Report, equality of educational opportunity, 1966
Flessa, Poverty and Education: Towards effective action, A review of the literature,2007
Bass, Transformational Leadership: industry, military and educational impact, 1998
Burns, J.M, Leadership, New-York: Harper & Row, 1978
Kotter, J.P, Leading change, Harvard Business School press, 1966 (online)
Harris, what works in school improvement? Educational Research, 2000 (online)
http://www.joe.org/joe/1975november/1975-6-a1.pdf