Main Content
Session Information
26 SES 07 A, Teacher Leaders in a Culture of Accountability - Emergent Roles for Transformative Teacher Learning or the New Dispensable Middle Managers?
Symposium
Contribution
With the political and public press for raising school performance – interpreted internationally as improved student achievement on select public examinations – particular significance has been attached to the role of leadership at all levels. To this end, this symposium examines teacher leadership in relation to current policy context and discourse. It will be an interactive, comparative international symposium that will examine teacher leadership and its impact on the professional learning of teachers as it is operationalized within a culture of accountability. The presentations will offer themes from the literature, a conceptual underpinning, policy discourse and case studies.
The objectives of the session are firstly to inform the discourse surrounding the relevance of teacher leaders to the professional learning of their colleagues. Secondly, to further conceptualise this construct utilising the Leadership for Learning framework. Thirdly, to widen the policy discourse in this area in terms of examining whether the rhetoric of teacher leadership matches the reality or whether teacher leadership is another form of managerial control to adhere to accountability frameworks in place at district, state and national levels. Fourthly, to examine in detail some innovative initiatives in this field through international case studies based in Europe and the USA.
Several essential questions will frame the conversation:
- How do perceptions of the purpose of teacher leaders impact their viability?
- Can teacher leaders facilitate both teacher learning and teacher compliance?
- Can teacher leadership serve to promote both systemic accountability and systemic growth?
- Is it possible for teacher leaders to avoid becoming quasi-administrators in a high-stakes accountability environment? And if so, how?
This symposium will encourage interactive dialogue on an underlying question – which is explored in much recent teacher leader research (Hilty, 2011) – is teacher leadership a “new niche” (Harris and Muijs, 2005) to enhance the quality of teaching as well as teaching profession or are these roles guises for the ‘same old story’ of controlling and monitoring the work of teaching? A discussant will encourage interaction and dialogue among paper authors (who are all leaders in the field of teacher leadership research) and audience members (who may be teacher leadership researchers, administrators, teacher leaders, and teachers). Each presenting author will speak initially for no more than 8 minutes (total: 32 minutes), followed by a discussant who will link and comment on these views for no more than 8 minutes. The second half of the symposium will invite audience members to engage presenters in dialogue via questions and comments. The discussant will steer the discussion forward with provocative questions related to the position of contemporary teacher leaders. Single page summaries of key points, and links to full papers, will be made available in the symposium.
Programme by Network 2019
00. Central Events (Keynotes, EERA-Panel, EERJ Round Table, Invited Sessions)
Network 1. Continuing Professional Development: Learning for Individuals, Leaders, and Organisations
Network 2. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)
Network 3. Curriculum Innovation
Network 4. Inclusive Education
Network 5. Children and Youth at Risk and Urban Education
Network 6. Open Learning: Media, Environments and Cultures
Network 7. Social Justice and Intercultural Education
Network 8. Research on Health Education
Network 9. Assessment, Evaluation, Testing and Measurement
Network 10. Teacher Education Research
Network 11. Educational Effectiveness and Quality Assurance
Network 12. LISnet - Library and Information Science Network
Network 13. Philosophy of Education
Network 14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research
Network 15. Research Partnerships in Education
Network 16. ICT in Education and Training
Network 17. Histories of Education
Network 18. Research in Sport Pedagogy
Network 19. Ethnography
Network 20. Research in Innovative Intercultural Learning Environments
Network 22. Research in Higher Education
Network 23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education
Network 24. Mathematics Education Research
Network 25. Research on Children's Rights in Education
Network 26. Educational Leadership
Network 27. Didactics – Learning and Teaching
Network 28. Sociologies of Education
Network 29. Reserach on Arts Education
Network 30. Research on Environmental und Sustainability Education
Network 31. Research on Language and Education (LEd)
Network 32. Organizational Education
The programme is updated regularly (each day in the morning)
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