This case study on nine bilingual teachers in Texas during their first year in a graduate education program examines both the development of critical consciousness among the educators and the ways in which critical consciousness shapes how these teachers come to understand their roles as teachers and leaders of a sociopolitically marginalized student group and community. Our analysis supports the proposition that teacher leadership programs can influence the development of social justice leadership, and it suggests that engaging teachers in certain types of structured learning opportunities can promote risk taking and a willingness to assume responsibility through the development of a sense of agency and efficacy.