ERIC Number: EJ1090360
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 16
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1536-3031
EISSN: N/A
Learning to Lead against the Grain: Dramatizing the Emotional Toll of Teacher Leadership
Cranston, Jerome; Kusanovich, Kristin
Issues in Teacher Education, v24 n2 p63-78 Fall 2015
Tremendous research on teacher leadership over the last decade has revealed both the prevalence of and the imperatives for a model teaching force that can actively participate in school improvement (Harrison & Killion, 2007; Katzenmeyer & Moller, 2001; Leithwood & Riehl, 2003). The highly participative teacher leader paradigm is so prevalent that most graduate level teacher preparation programs have positioned themselves with this distinction, that of preparing teacher leaders, as opposed to merely preparing "teachers" (Nolan & Palazzolo, 2011). This emphasis on preparing teacher leaders is timely for both the programs and the students who will gravitate toward them. There are obviously good reasons to inundate the nation's schools with teachers who are self-reliant, forward thinking, and able to lead and manage changes for the betterment of student learning. Teacher leaders can embody the best thinking about teaching and learning (Leithwood & Riehl, 2003), and that thinking can challenge normative practices at times. This article illustrates a creative approach to supporting the growth of such teachers and offers a methodology that allows them to develop their leadership capacities through ethnodrama (SaldaƱa, 2005). Through witnessing and performing dramatic scripts that grapple with the cost of going against the grain (Greene, 1978), current and developing teacher leaders are allowed to reflect on others'--as well as their own--experiences and construct a new, critical awareness of the potential challenges facing them as teacher leaders. The authors share their transdisciplinary approach to teacher leadership preparation that fuses strategies and methods from both the theatre arts and teacher leadership preparation. The results of their practical study of dramatizing stories of teacher leadership challenges are summarized herein.
Descriptors: Teacher Leadership, Professional Development, Teacher Role, Academic Achievement, Teacher Effectiveness, Teacher Workshops, Educational Change, Teacher Collaboration, Models, Teacher Education
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A