A teacher's practice is influenced by personal, institutional, historical, and societal experiences. Teachers are expected to manage how content is delivered in a classroom setting. As well a teacher is managing their own emotional and internal narratives around complex issues such as race, racism, and oppression in the classroom. By exploring the…

Although the number and diversity of emergent bilingual students is rising, this population is viewed as homogeneous rather than vibrant and eclectic. This case study explores how two secondary teachers of English as a new language uncover the diversity of their recently arrived emergent bilingual population by implementing translanguaging…

This reflective essay examines educator preparation through the lens of Paul Kalanithi's poignant memoir "When Breath Becomes Air." Based on her work with preservice teacher candidates, the author questions the meaning of teacher preparation in our uncertain educational landscape. Drawing on the lessons of Maxine Greene and John Dewey…

This qualitative study examines the notion of youth leadership in an after-school program focused on teaching leadership skills and instilling habits of civic engagement within a long-term support program that prioritizes college readiness for low-income minority students. Through activities designed to help youth discover their passions, envision…

Despite extensive commentary on the Pledge of Allegiance in schools, little is known about how students think of its daily recitation. This study asked 88 Native American high school students about their experiences with classroom recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Aware that they had the right to refrain from participating, most students…

This introduction to the second part of our Symposium on Teachers as Leaders examines the role of collaboration and writing as part of teacher leadership. The first part of the symposium described teacher leadership as a stance that values professionalism and the intellectual, political, and collaborative work of teaching. This introduction…

An early childhood educator explores his journey from teacher to teacher leader and examines the parallels between his teaching practice with young children and his leadership practice with respect to colleagues. The author finds similarities within the frame of listening, broadly construed--practices that help him to attend to and understand the…

Descriptive Review, as developed by Patricia Carini and colleagues at the Prospect Center, is a process of deep observation and documentation that has proven to be an invaluable tool for teachers interested in gaining a more holistic view of their students and their work. In this article, a teacher educator and three classroom teachers share their…

This essay recounts the experience of a math teacher as she began to view herself as a teacher leader. The four different schools in which she worked over four school years and in two cities set the stage for reflection and growth that transcend school context. She shares her journey as she focused on reaching students quickly and establishing…

Douglas Mitchell's introductory remarks on Richard McKeon's "Communication, Truth, and Society" set the theme of communication and McKeon's philosophy in the context of his lifelong friendship with the literary/rhetorical theorist Kenneth Burke. McKeon's essay is in two parts: the first is devoted to communication as a means to avoid…

Much of the professional development offered to school teachers centers on quantifiable aspects of teaching and learning that correlate to external inspection processes. Insufficient attention is given to the student-teacher relationship and the dynamics contained within; in more "challenging" schools, this is central to the progress of…

This article recounts my experience of developing as a teacher leader in Philadelphia. When I worked at a traditional high school, a hierarchical leadership structure frustrated my attempts to foster teacher leadership among colleagues. By building networks of teachers outside my own school, I found the relationships and opportunities that helped…

Community colleges continue to grapple with low rates of degree completion and transfer issues, with a national three-year completion rate of 22 percent (Community College Research Center). However, through the implementation of high-impact practices, many schools and programs have found levels of success. The City University of New York's (CUNY)…

This autoethnographic narrative explores the challenges and successes of employing critical pedagogy in an eighth-grade history classroom. Using the threads of teacher, scholar, and individual, the author shares the intellectual and emotional progression through hope, frustration, humility, and growth that this endeavor demanded. Further, this…

This introduction to the symposium on Teacher Leadership describes how a group of teachers have developed a definition of teacher leadership as a stance. The article explores how prior definitions of teacher leadership tend to focus on individual skills or roles. Neoliberal educational policies that emphasize market-based policy, privatization,…