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Teacher Leadership
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Brief Review of Literature on Teacher Leadership
Introduction
Teacher leadership is one of the key components in current school systems, as it deals
with the activities and responsibilities teachers have apart from the classroom tasks to enhance
school and students' achievements. This review also includes teacher leadership, why it is
important and possible barriers to the practice.
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Defining Teacher Leadership
Teacher leadership refers to the teacher exercising formal and informal power to enhance
educational practice and results within his or her school. According to Wenner, it means teachers
team up to facilitate teaching and learning processes, acknowledging professional competence
and interpersonal connection as key contributors to the school's advancement.
Importance of Teacher Leadership
Teacher leadership can be defined as the management of school and classroom practice
by teachers and plays a major role in affecting school climate and academic performance.
Teacher leaders support and facilitate colleagues' learning, provide instruction, and model
improvements. As Wenner and Campbell (2017) pointed out, teacher leadership helps promote a
healthy school climate and improves the Teachers' effectiveness and the learners' performance.
Teacher leaders are the middlemen who change the country's education policies by effectively
implementing them in the classrooms.
Challenges in Implementing Teacher Leadership
The following factors make it difficult for teacher leadership to occur. This situation
typically results in organizational confusion and irregularity because many schools need to
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formally recognize teacher leaders or provide a clear framework of how they can be involved
(Wenner & Campbell, 2017). Also, the prior unitary structure of school systems may hinder the
adoption of distributed leadership, as the teachers want to avoid taking up leadership positions or
encountering opposition from their colleagues or authorities.
Summary
Teacher leadership is important in any school reforming process, as the concept has been
proven to have many positive effects on enhancing the teaching profession and improving
student performance. School culture and structure must be considered and adapted to implement
properly. It is, therefore, important for schools to identify and encourage teacher leaders as they
can bring much-needed change in educational systems by perpetuating positive change.
References
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Wenner, J. A., & Campbell, T. (2017). The theoretical and empirical basis of teacher leadership:
A literature review. Review of Educational Research, 87(1), 134–171.
