TIPS FOR CREATING OPPORTUNITIES

Following are some more tips for school leaders who are intent on creating opportunities for teachers to take on leadership roles.

Build on what already exists. Identify ways teachers are leading and improve what already exists. Perhaps you already have a school leadership team. Recognize that structure as one that permits teacher leadership. Next, identify what's working on the team and what you'd like to improve. Perhaps the team works well together but the lines of communication from the team to the rest of the staff could be improved. Engage teachers in finding solutions to concerns. Doing that will help create momentum and a sense of efficacy for teacher leaders.

Start slowly and proceed with caution. While collaborative structures must be in place for teacher leadership to happen, it does not have to happen all at once. When making a decision about what structures need to be in place, use student achievement and perception data to provide valuable insight. Then go slowly by taking time to learn from your experiences, monitor progress, and modify what isn't working.
Embed structures for leadership development. Create structures that help teachers develop as leaders. Such structures include coaching, mentoring, action research, and study groups. Reflecting on leadership experiences is a powerful way to enhance leadership performance.

Include all teachers. Formal teacher leadership positions can be effective, but providing a means for all teachers to participate in leadership activities is crucial. When only certain teachers in positions that take them away from the classroom can lead, the hierarchical structure is reinforced. Involving teachers in conversations about collaboration, time, and selection of teachers on teams creates informal leadership.

Collaborate with teachers. Leadership is not something principals do to teachers. Instead, leadership is a collaborative activity that teachers and principals engage in together. Create structures that allow for teachers and principals to collaborate on instructional issues. Teachers and principals must forge new working relationships that may mean collaborating as equals for the first time.
The hierarchal structure of schools makes teacher leadership a challenging prospect. The classic structure of leadership seems at odds with distributing leadership to the masses. Fortunately, it isn't an all or nothing arrangement. Principals can lead and so can teachers. It's just a matter or creating structures and eliminating obstacles.