Define Teacher Leader...
My brain hurts right now. For the past fifty minutes, I've wrestled with the idea of what makes a "teacher leader," and I'm not sure that I've come to any consensus in my own mind at all---which is interesting because I've spent the past four days at a conference on Teacher Leadership.
Here are some questions that are rumbling around my mind:
1. Can you remain a "teacher" leader after you've left the classroom for other roles? I often hear the phrase "teacher leader" used to describe people who are working in instructional coach or curriculum assistance positions----but do you lose some measure of credibility when you don't work with a group of kids on a regular basis?
2. Should teacher leaders demand fair compensation for the work that we do beyond the classroom? Ninety percent of my efforts are informal and unrewarded----am I cheapening what I know and can do by just giving it away? Can we build ourselves as a profession if we don't properly value our own work?
3. If you had to write a job description for a "teacher leader," what would it include? What knowledge and skills do you think are essential for teachers who want to be leaders? Can you be a leader without a formal title?
4. Is one of the weaknesses that we face as "teacher leaders" the fact that there is no clear job description? Are the lack of formalized roles holding us back and allowing "the powers that be" to dismiss what it is that we can bring to the table? Do decision makers like to tell us that we're teacher leaders just to make us feel good----with no real intention of allowing us to have influence?
5. What are the connections between power and influence? Which do we have as teacher leaders? Which is more important?
This post feels unfinished to me----but that's definitely because my thinking is unfinished. I'd love to hear your thoughts on a topic that I thought I had mentally mastered!
My brain hurts right now. For the past fifty minutes, I've wrestled with the idea of what makes a "teacher leader," and I'm not sure that I've come to any consensus in my own mind at all---which is interesting because I've spent the past four days at a conference on Teacher Leadership.
Here are some questions that are rumbling around my mind:
1. Can you remain a "teacher" leader after you've left the classroom for other roles? I often hear the phrase "teacher leader" used to describe people who are working in instructional coach or curriculum assistance positions----but do you lose some measure of credibility when you don't work with a group of kids on a regular basis?
2. Should teacher leaders demand fair compensation for the work that we do beyond the classroom? Ninety percent of my efforts are informal and unrewarded----am I cheapening what I know and can do by just giving it away? Can we build ourselves as a profession if we don't properly value our own work?
3. If you had to write a job description for a "teacher leader," what would it include? What knowledge and skills do you think are essential for teachers who want to be leaders? Can you be a leader without a formal title?
4. Is one of the weaknesses that we face as "teacher leaders" the fact that there is no clear job description? Are the lack of formalized roles holding us back and allowing "the powers that be" to dismiss what it is that we can bring to the table? Do decision makers like to tell us that we're teacher leaders just to make us feel good----with no real intention of allowing us to have influence?
5. What are the connections between power and influence? Which do we have as teacher leaders? Which is more important?
This post feels unfinished to me----but that's definitely because my thinking is unfinished. I'd love to hear your thoughts on a topic that I thought I had mentally mastered!
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