Building a New Structure for School Leadership, Essay Example

Literature Review

In order to meet the requirements and expectations of Plan 2020, school reform is a must. In order to reform school restructuring must occur in order to change the culture of the school to ensure that it is conducive to learning. Over the years, the role of teacher has drastically changed because the perception of teachers has changed. Consequently, teacher leaders are developed and carry out many leadership roles effectively within the school setting. Thus, the collaboration between principal and teacher is imperative. Likewise, researchers argue that allowing teacher leadership has helped many schools reach their school improvement goals because the organizational culture improved (Durrant & Holden, 2006). Teacher leadership is a positive way for schools to improve student learning by promoting a cultural environment that is pleasing to students, teachers, and administrators.

School Improvement

School improvement cannot be defined merely as increased standardized scores in order to meet annual yearly progress. Yet, some researchers have defined school improvement as enhancing teaching processing to increase student achievement (Durrant & Holden, 2006   ). School improvement is so much more than student achievement. Obviously, school improvement encompasses structural changes, management, planning, placing as much emphasis on learning as teaching, and implementing strategic planning (Durrant & Holden, 2006).  The importance of school reform or improvement has been studied for years by using standardized testing and accountability systems to help determine if improvement has been achieved. For example:

“Society should communicate its expectations for what students should know and be able to do in the form of standards; both for what should be taught and for what students should be able to demonstrate about their learning. School administrators and policy makers, at the state, district, and school level, should regularly evaluate whether teachers are teaching what they are expected to teach and whether students can demonstrate what they are expected to learn. The fundamental unit of accountability should be the school, because that is the organizational unit where teaching and learning actually occurs” (Elmore, 2000).

Again, it should be reminded that to measure school improvement achievement, tools other than test scores must be used. As a result, schools that are implementing and using teacher leadership are taking a more holistic approach to the problem. With the holistic approach, the main objective is to implement a joy of learning from both teachers and students. Learning must involve various strategies, such as cooperative learning groups, differentiated instruction, and leaner centered delivery (Blasé, Blasé, & Du, 2008).

Teachers Role

Teachers play a dominant role in student learning. As a result, teachers should be involved in decision making choices that directly affect student outcomes. Likewise, teachers must be interested and motivated to improve student learning. Nonetheless, the role of the teacher directly depends upon the leadership style of the principal. Principals that want to see improvement ensure this by allowing teachers to take on leadership of producing favorable learning outcomes. When teachers are allowed to do this, they are able to link their own learning and development to student learning. Teachers who have a vested interest in student learning are more likely to be successful and produce great gains in student achievement. These teachers view student low achievement as a direct reflection of their teaching ability(Durrant& Holden, 2006). Consequently, they strive to ensure maximum student achievement. Teachers help to build the culture and school climate within their schools. The school culture and climate is driven by passionate teachers who display a joy of teaching and excitement about student learning. Accordingly, school culture can be either positive or negative on the school reform process (Blasé, Blasé & Du, 2008).For years, researchers have been trying to figure out how achievement can be raised and what are the best ways to go about doing that. Finally, the realization that teachers are instrumental in the process has finally occurred to researchers and policy makers. There is an abundance of evidence that that indicates that teachers are the critical link in school reform. Muijis & Harris said, “Schools badly need the leadership of teachers if they are to improve” (2006). Likewise, research has proved that teacher leadership has an astounding affect on students, teachers, principals, and other stake holders (Elmore, 2000). Also, research has shown that teacher networks, or those groups of teachers who collaborate in order to maximize student learning, are more successful at accomplishing that goal than teachers who do not (Elmore, 2000).Also, low levels of professionalism, ineffective school culture, and utilizing appropriate assessment methods have been noted as contributors to school failure.

Teacher Leadership

What is a teacher leader? The definition has proven to be quite elusive. Muijs &Harris (2006) researched what others see as teacher leadership. They determined that there were five dimensions of teacher leadership:

1. Shared decision-making where teachers are given responsibility to make decisions on behalf of the school on important developmental work.
2. Collaboration in which they operate collegially for the prime purpose of securing certain outcomes linked to improving teaching and learning.

3. Active participation where teachers understand teacher leadership in terms ofbeing actively involved in core developmental tasks and being participants in the process of school improvement.

4. Professional learning in which teachers are learning individually and withcolleagues.
5. Leadership as activism where teachers engage with issues on behalf of the schoolin order to directly affect change and development (964-965).

However, one cannot expect to find all five dimensions in all schools that are labeled successful; yet stake holders should try to implement as many of the five steps as possible in order to form a collaborative relationship between teachers and principals. Many teachers today are encouraged to adapt and adopt new practices that acknowledge that all students do not learn in the same manner. The most important role of the teacher is to get to know each teacher as an individual in order to comprehend his or her unique needs, teaching styles, social and cultural background, and interests, all of which affect each child’s learning experience

References

Blasé, J., Blasé, J., & Du, F. (2008). The mistreated teacher: A national study. Journal of Educational Administration, 46(3), 263-301.

Durrant, J. & Holden, G. (2006). Teachers leading change: Doing research for school improvement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Elmore, R. F. (2000). Building a new structure for school leadership. New York: The Albert Shanker Institute. Available:http://www.shankerinstitute.org/education.html

Muijs, D., & Harris, A. (2006). Teacher led school improvement: Teacher leadership in the UK. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22, 961-972.