The literature on leadership in higher education is extensive (see Knight & Trowler, 2001; Ramsden, 1998), however, there are considerably fewer accounts of research focusing on relationship between a supportive and collegial leadership and a higher commitment to good teaching and university teachers’ well-being. In different circumstances a concept of pedagogical leadership is often used. Thus the basic task of the pedagogic community is emphasised with the concept; supporting growth, development and learning, where members of the community also act collegially and cooperatively themselves. When pedagogical models are used, those are often based on mutual communication, and the purpose of the communication is to give birth to the new pedagogical processes. (see Their, 1994.)

Their (1994) has used the concept of pedagogical leadership in situations where both the management and the pedagogical touch are combined. Pedagogical or instructional leadership can be implemented in different kinds of organisations. Almost any kind of organisational leadership role can be compared to the pedagogist's role, if the leader functions as a facilitator and trendsetter of the development and supports continuous learning in the work community. In the pedagogical leadership model the leader inspires the work community to develop, to learn a new things and to achieve new challenges. (Their 1994, pp. 40–42.)

Pedagogical leadership can be seen as a blend of supervision, staff development and curriculum development with the aim of improved learning. In higher education, the forms of leadership are generally expressed as a dichotomy between authoritarian and controlling management, on one hand, and collaborative and supportive management, on the other. There is also evidence that collegial and positive conceptions of leadership are related to high teaching quality (Ramsden, Prosser, Trigwell & Martin, 2007). Martin, Trigwell and Ramsden (2003) explored the variation in the conceptions of leadership of heads and subject coordinators. They found out that the variation how the departmental leaders conceive of their leadership of teaching is large and inclusive. For some leader the focus was on their actions as leaders, another group of leaders focused on teaching, and third group focused beyond them on students’ learning. The forms of leadership were related to teachers’ teaching. (Martin, Trigwell, & Ramsden, 2003).

We explore pedagogical leadership and how it may support university teachers’ development in teaching skills and their well-being by applying the social practice theory and metaphorical approach in our research. Social practice theory perspective takes learning and agency to be an aspect of participation in socially situated practices. Fundamental argument is that learning and agency are an aspect of changing participation in changing "communities of practice" (Lave & Wenger 1991; Lave 1997; Wenger 1998). In the social practice theory as the “knowing” is seen as inherently connected to the activities within the context and culture in which the act of knowing occurs. Thus knowing is contexted and contingent and deeply embedded in the context and understood only in relation to the context and culture.  Departmental management and leadership have diverse history and culture in different universities and even in different departments of the same university.

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