Suggestions to Help Create Effective Teacher Leadership

1.  Structure:  Unclear responsibilities lead to frustration and tension.  Everything should be clearly defined:  roles, rules, expectations and timelines.  These should be in place before a teacher accepts a leadership role.

 

2.  Time:  Dual roles of teacher and leader sometimes can compromise both roles.  A teacher/leader needs time to reflect, think, experiment and create, revise and redo.  They need time to talk to colleagues, develop materials and build relationships.

 

The end of the teaching day is best for this.  Let a teacher do their main job and concentrate on it uninterrupted.  Let them teach periods 1-5.  Then, at the end of the day allow them to take on the leadership role.  That way, they finish one thing for the day and put full concentration and effort into the next role.