The Road to Teacher Leadership

Leadership is a buzzword in any profession, but it is becoming increasingly popular in education. Teachers are natural leaders; they lead their classrooms after all. But there is a difference between leading a classroom of twenty high school students and leading other teachers. How is an educator supposed to know when they have enough experience or leadership qualities to become a teacher leader? Marsha Ratzel, a National Board—certified teacher discusses several ways teachers know they are ready for the next step in her article “5 Telltale Signs You’re Becoming a Teacher Leader.”

While Ratzel (2012) lists five ways teachers can know they are becoming teacher leaders, she also stresses that “there is no ‘correct path’ to becoming a teacher leader” (p. 40). Leadership looks slightly different to everyone based on their personality and personal goals, but Ratzel does a good job of describing five general signs of budding leadership potential: desiring a bigger impact, being consulted on a regular basis, finding solutions, desiring to mentor, and hungering for more educational knowledge. (2012, p. 39). In addition, Ratzel also cites The Teacher Leader Model Standards as indicators that describe seven different domains of teacher-leadership.

These signs of leadership encouraged me to examine my own teaching practices, and evaluate the progress I am making toward becoming a teacher leader. I think that the desire to have a bigger impact should be true of all teachers. As a first-year teacher, sometimes it feels as if my dreams are too big for my situation. Christine Watson (2015) encourages young teachers to pursue leadership roles in schools by stating that “today's schools will offer you many options. Collaborating with your colleagues, being open to opportunities, and leading in your classroom will allow you to discover your own passions and guide your future as a teacher lead” (p. 30). Leadership does not have to come with some fancy new title; leadership can be a simple as starting a blog to share your educational experiences or sharing lesson ideas with other teachers.  Since I am the English and history departments at my school, to me this means sharing with other teacher general instruction strategies that have worked in my classroom and helping them adapt them for their classroom and age group. A similar trait of leadership is the desire to mentor younger teachers. This is one of the traits of leadership that can be hard for new teachers. My school’s elementary and high school program consists of five teachers, and four of us are first-year teachers. We worked cooperatively and learned from each other and the veteran teacher. I was scared to make suggestions at first because I was the newbie, what did I know? As I became more comfortable in my position, I gradually began to share my experiences with other new teachers on social media ad well as student teachers that I knew.

Being a life-long learner is another sign of developing leadership. Pursuing my Master’s degree is one of the many ways that I am continuing to study education. Retzel(2012) describes this curiosity for knowledge as “you are eager to dig deeper into pedagogical strategies and/or your content area. You read. A lot” (p. 39). I am constantly on the hunt for educational books. My “to-read” shelf is rapidly growing with books on general education to more specific topics concerning English. Teachers who desire to become teacher leaders should pursue professional development in their weak areas in order to be the best possible teachers they can be.

Coggins and McGovern (2014) state that in order for teacher leaders to be effective they must be “viewed by their peers as more effective and as having the knowledge and skills to help others improve” (p.19). Becoming a teacher leader does not have to correlate with the number of years of experiences you have; it has more to do with what you can offer to others. I am working in a small school. My opportunities for leadership are going to look quite different than opportunities at a larger school. Even though I may not have a formal leadership position, I can still demonstrate leadership in the small things, and maybe one day, it will lead to a more formal leadership role.

References

Coggins, C., & McGovern, K. (2014). Five goals for teacher leadership. The Phi Delta Kappan, 95(7), 15-21. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24374713

Ratzel, M. (2012). 5 Telltale signs you’re becoming a teacher leader. In Curriculum leadership: Readings for developing quality educational program (10th ed., pp. 38-41). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Wastson, C. (2014). Beginning teachers as leaders. Educational Horizons, 93(2), 30-30. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24635460