Teacher leaders are a vital part of all public schools. They are able to motivate student achievement beyond the boundaries of the school. These leaders are woven into the fabric of the community, and are known for more than what they can accomplish in the classroom.

Pathways to Teacher Leadership

I encourage you to look at this link because it has a very good video on the different ways of achieving teacher leadership. Dr. Murphy basically says there are both role-based strategies and community based strategies. Without both pathways being pursued, teacher leadership will not exist to its fullest extent. He says,

“There are pathways to create teacher leadership in schools; this is the central idea you want to gravitate toward. There are two very broad paths you can follow…Stopping with the notion of role-based strategies is a truncated and limited model to get teacher leadership infused inside of a school organization.”

So what's the difference? Role based strategies are what we, the teacher, display in the classroom. We know we are successful when we have students coming by just to say hi, or to take a picture for homecoming. Community based strategies are what happens as soon as we leave the school. It's how we get involved with off-campus, community activities and clubs such as being a coach. When students and parents see your face outside of the classroom. They are more receptive to what you have to say in the classroom. You are much more likely to achieve the respect and attention of your students.

Resources for Teacher Leadership

I really like this website to use for reference because it refers to all the issues associated with becoming a community leader. It answers questions such as:

• How do I engage parents that have not traditionally been engaged in the education system?
• How do I connect with parents in a low-income or rural area?
• How do I establish partnership with parents other than the traditional approach?

These resources offer in-depth .pdf articles that go into great detail about how to move past these and other such obstacles. This website focuses more on community-based strategies, but I feel that these are the hardest obstacles for most teachers to move past. I feel that this is mostly because it requires a lot of additional effort after coming home from work. Some teachers do not want to move in to a role that they have to fulfill 24 hours a day.

Do you agree with Dr. Murphy when he says, "“We create mentors, literacy coaches, and induction coaches. We create more roles that teachers can move into. Not a bad strategy but insufficient to get you where you want to go.” ? Why or why not?

~MjG