This article focuses on support for teacher leadership using a model adapted from the HertsCam teacher Led Development Work programme. It explores the question of the limitations of 'policy borrowing' but addresses this in a way which reveals a great deal about the potential links between teacher leadership and emancipation. Programmes to support adult learning often claim to be emancipatory but in this article the account of the political and cultural context is significant. The article presents recommendations which could have far reaching consequences for societies engaged in a struggle for identity.