“The era of one heroic school leader per
school has passed and instead, leadership is often distributed across a number
of individuals across the school (Firestone 1996; Hulpia, Devos, and Rosseel
2009). Also teachers are increasingly formally incorporated in the leadership
team of a school (Mangin and Dunsmore 2015). Neumerski (2013) argues that it is
important to study the diverse types of leaders in schools in a more integrated
way to gain insights in how school leadership is organized in schools”
(Tuytens, Et al, 2019, p. 7). Team leadership is described as a groups of
administrators, teachers, and other staff that work cohesively to lead a
successful school environment. Together they make important school decisions
and lead school improvement initiatives. “Most
secondary schools also have formally designated teacher leaders in their school
leadership team. These teacher leaders are teachers who are part-time or
full-time free of teaching duties to take up a leadership role such as student
counseling, instructional support or administrative tasks” (Tuytens, Et al, 2019, p. 8). Teacher leaders are designated to
provide support to other teachers to enhance the education of their students.
Teachers working together with administrators creates an environment focused on
student achievement. “The average size of the leadership team (principal,
assistant principals and teacher leaders) in these schools is 8 leaders”
(Tuytens, Et al, 2019, p. 11). Team leadership allows for higher productivity,
shared responsibility, quality improvements, and increased involvement to the
success of the school community. They hold each other accountable to accomplish
a common goal. This is accomplished through clear communication, set aside
individual goals, actively sharing knowledge and skills for a greater purpose.
In order to have a successful team leadership, school leaders must identify
individuals who are part of the team. Followed by clearly establishing the long
term vision for the school. The team leaders should work together to improve
classroom learning through direct coaching or modeling. The team leadership
must also be prepared to provide feedback. Once the team leadership establishes
a clear vision, provides coaching and modeling as well as feedback, teachers
will feel more confident in joining the team’s vision.
Reference.
Tuytens, M., Moolenaar, N., Daly, A. J., Devos, G.,
Leerstoel, van G., & Education, and L. D. in I. (2019). Teachers’
informal feedback seeking towards the school leadership team. a social network
analysis in secondary schools. Research Papers in Education, 34(4).
