Stages of Teacher Leadership

Damicka Bates
Emily Hurt
Educ 301
2/10/09

Stages of Teacher Leadership

Today many parents look for the best teachers (http://www.teachers.tv/video/22799) to educate their children. They expect these teachers to model the qualities of a great leader within the classroom. Yet, what are those qualities that define what a great leader is? Most parents would say that a great teacher is someone who exhibits a very mature way of dealing with curriculum, uncertainty, diversity, and situations that occur within the classroom. In order to achieve this accolade, there are many stages a teacher must endure. The following paragraphs will approach the stages a teacher experiences throughout their tenure and why leadership development is so important.
Some of the most challenging situations that teachers deal with are classroom management, multi-cultural awareness, and meeting the demands to achieve high test scores thus receiving a “passing” grade. Despite whose fault it is that students are not making the grade, the bottom line is teachers are the ones who are most criticized. But how does the novel teacher’s evaluation fare compared to the experienced teacher? This is why the stages of leadership are important. Teachers cannot just become the experienced teachers that parents expect. There are stages they must go through to master all of the challenges they face daily within the classroom.
According to (Katzenmeyer & Moller, 2001), the definition of teachers who are in leadership is “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 toward improved educational practices” (p. 5). To reach this level in teaching there are stages teachers go through. The first stage is Teacher as Learner stage. In this stage, teachers learn the knowledge and skills necessary for performing instructional tasks within the classroom. Teachers demonstrate promising practices and have ongoing professional development by and with peers. The second stage is the Teacher as Adopter stage. In this stage, teachers progress through stages of personal and task management of classroom goals. They begin to try new things within the classroom, use self reflection and share their experiences with their peers. The third stage is Teacher as Co learner. In this stage, teachers focus on developing a clear relationship between the standards and curriculum. They participate in workshops and online resources with strategies for enhancing instruction within the classroom. The fourth stage is Teacher as Reaffirmer or Rejecter. In this stage, teachers develop a greater awareness of intermediate learning outcomes. They begin to create new ways to observe and assess impact on student products and performances and to disseminate exemplary student work to a larger audience. In this stage, teachers look to their administration for support in learning outcomes of students. (http://www.teachers.tv/video/3036)Administrative support is very valued by teachers in this stage. In the final stage the teacher is Teacher as Leader. In this stage, experienced teachers expand their roles to become active researchers who carefully observe their practice, collect data, share the improvements in practice with peers, and teach new members. In this stage, their skills and knowledge become portable.
It is these stages of leadership development that our community gains leader teachers. We must know that it is not just administration that holds a leader position. It is our teachers who also hold and maintain a leadership role within our schools. The work of constantly promoting learning for all students is challenging, uncertain, and exhausting. For this reason, it is important to have the leadership of teachers because it is these teachers that bring many resources and knowledge, which provide continuous improvement in schools. “Teacher leaders provide the key to sustaining meaningful change in schools and classrooms (Katzenmeyer & Moller , 2001).