Professional development communities (PDCs) are professional learning communities for teacher development in schools. Israeli educational reforms made principals responsible for staff professional development and introduced a teacher-led, PDC-based program called Hashkafa for teacher development. The current study examined principals' views…

Specialized literacy professionals (specialists/coaches/coordinators) are enacting leadership roles that influence how school communities interact and collaborate to change instructional practices. These positions involve multiple responsibilities highlighted in the standards for the Preparation of Literacy Professionals (International Literacy…

Teacher professional learning has been recognised as a critical contributor to improving teaching quality and securing student learning. Leadership at different levels is important for professional learning in schools. Job-embedded teacher professional learning occurs in collaborative activities that include co-teaching, action research, and…

The current research examined how students participating in professional training in education and teaching characterized the concept of the "teacher leader". Layered analysis was employed using quantitative data alongside a qualitative examination of metaphorical representations indicating deeper unconscious perceptions. The…

Teacher leaders are a population to consider when observing instructional leadership or the instructional leadership behaviors of the school principal. A voice rarely illuminated within research, teacher leaders should have the ability to perceive and speak to the instructional leadership behaviors of the school principal. It is through the…

This article focuses on development work led by Nikki Smith who participated in a teacher leadership support group designed especially for educators in the field of early childhood. Nikki's project improved the provision and practice of a particular type of learning environment for very young children, one that is created and packed away each day.…

In this article the author accounts for the process of change he led in his workplace during his participation in the HertsCam MEd in Leading Teaching and Learning. The narrative presents the key stages in this process from first identifying a professional concern to the development of a sustainable model which has been adopted school-wide. The…

The lead author of this article is a young teacher, new to the profession, who has been enabled to exercise leadership with the support he derived from his participation in the HertsCam Teacher Led Development Work programme facilitated at his school by the co-author. The article is an interesting exploration of a particular aspect of pedagogy --…

This article draws from the first phase of a larger, qualitative and developmental study with educational leaders (n=50), as well as nearly three decades of research and teaching, to explore how constructive-developmental theory offers new insights about enacting and supporting social justice leadership in our schools and districts. Specifically,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how principals, deputy principals, heads of departments (HoDs) and teachers as leaders exercise their agency within and through the organisational structure of their schools to improve academic quality. Design/methodology/approach: A case study was conducted in the wider context of school-based…

This article draws on Foucault's work on subjectivity (Foucault, 2000), which has been furthered by Keddie and Niesche's (2017) interpretation of Foucault's work on ethics to explore English leaders' work in two government high schools in Victoria, Australia. A review of the educational literature shows that Foucauldian research in the UK…

In this paper I present a case study of one teacher, Harriet, and how her beliefs and practices regarding "equity" and "social justice" in mathematics developed over several years. I use Valsiner's (Culture and the development of children's action: a theory of human development, 2nd edn, Wiley, New York, 1997) zone theory to…

National Board Certification (NBC) is a voluntary yet advanced teaching credential that goes beyond the typical state licensure requirement (NEA, 2015). The purpose of this study is to determine the perspectives of teachers who have completed and achieved NBC, and specifically how it has impacted them as classroom teachers. Using data collected…

Background/Context: Research underscores that school improvement relies on leadership that stretches beyond a principal, but significant developments to the design of school level leadership lags. This paper shares data and interpretations of school leadership organized as a network of formalized teacher-leader roles that are ranked, titled, and…

Education in Ireland presents an idiosyncratic context. Study of this lends depth and insight to any international consideration of education, complex as this must be. This paper considers student teachers' perspectives and interpretations of leadership in primary (national) schools in Ireland. It focuses on the findings of research undertaken…