A teacher leader is an educator who takes the initiatives and the willingness to help outside his/hers own classrooms. They might be department chairs, committee members, head coaches, team leaders, union reps, or other officially recognized positions. Teacher leaders can also be catalysts for change, visionaries who are “never content with the status quo but rather always looking for a better way” (Larner, 2004, p. 32). They are often trusted sources of advice at their schools. And in many cases, they're facilitators for school change.
In reality, any teacher can be a leader, even in a smaller capacity. In this week’s media segment, Barth discusses the definition of teacher leadership and the roles of teacher leaders. He also emphasizes
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As I grew professionally, I began to take on small roles, such as providing resources and help for a struggling colleague or sharing thoughts during staff meetings. Blase and Blase (2006) found that consultation with peers enhanced teachers' self-efficacy (teachers' belief in their own abilities and capacity to successfully solve teaching and learning problems) as they reflected on practice and grew together, and it also encouraged a bias for action (improvement through collaboration) on the part of teachers (p. 22). It wasn’t an easy task at first but once I committed to having the mentality of the teacher leader, I then offered my services for the continual betterment of your school. Teacher leaders are collaborative and supportive, using shared leadership to build the capacity of their school, their team, and their colleagues (Tomal, Schilling, and Wilhite, 2014). I love to share, collaborate and support my colleagues. It gives me a sense of being wanted, trustworthy and a team player. Based on Defining the Teacher as Leaders, the one area in my leadership approach I would like to improve upon is promoting the use of assessment and data for school and district