This paper identifies two conceptualizations of teacher leadership – constructivist leadership theory and sociocultural theory. Using aspects of the conceptualizations, this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper identifies two conceptualizations of teacher leadership – constructivist leadership theory and sociocultural theory. Using aspects of the conceptualizations, this paper provides direction for future study into and implementation of teacher leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws from both review and empirical literature that references constructivist leadership theory and sociocultural theory or that describes aspects of the aforementioned theories in relation to teacher leadership.
Findings
Findings reveal that both constructivist leadership theory and sociocultural theory provide insight into the past lukewarm success of teacher leadership implementation and guidance for future efforts in teacher leadership. Such efforts include reconceptualizing leadership in schools, redesigning development opportunities for teachers based on the link between leading and learning, capitalizing on collaboration between universities and schools, focusing on the mentorship of new teachers and developing teacher leadership in relation to well-studied local school cultures.
Originality/value
The literature reviews of York-Barr and Duke (2004) and Wenner and Campbell (2017) regarding teacher leadership describe the field as largely atheoretical. This paper provides a theoretical grounding for teacher leadership in constructivist leadership theory and sociocultural theory and derives direction for future work around teacher leadership from a combination of these theories.
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Keywords
The purpose of this study is to examine the benefits and challenges of simultaneously participating part-time in a doctoral program and teaching full-time in the K-12 classroom.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the benefits and challenges of simultaneously participating part-time in a doctoral program and teaching full-time in the K-12 classroom.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the author used autoethnography to examine the benefits and challenges she faced as a part-time doctoral student and full-time, public high-school English language arts teacher.
Findings
The findings included that managing finite personal resources such as time and mental bandwidth constituted a challenge while simultaneously existing in both worlds created a unique perspective derived from the knowledge, ideas and events in each world constantly prompting reflection on the other. Additionally, benefits – the synergy between research and practice – and challenges – the frustration that occurred when potential crossover faced resistance – resulted from the cross-pollination between studying and teaching. Finally, inhabiting both worlds ended up changing the author’s plans, raising questions about where to go upon finishing her degree.
Originality/value
Scant research exists about part-time doctoral students in general, even less research exists on part-time students who work full-time in any profession, and even less broaches teachers’ experiences teaching full time while in a doctoral program. Given the need for classroom realities to better inform research and policy, examining the possibilities regarding part-time doctoral programs for teachers holds potential for both practice and research to speak to one another.
Details
Keywords
The pandemic has presented many new challenges tasking teachers with meeting the various social-emotional, academic and logistical needs of students in the midst of an…
Abstract
Purpose
The pandemic has presented many new challenges tasking teachers with meeting the various social-emotional, academic and logistical needs of students in the midst of an ever-changing landscape. The onset of COVID-19 has drastically impacted schools and inevitably raised questions about nearly all aspects of teaching including but not limited to: how to deliver instruction, grade students, engage students, deliver materials to students, create equitable access to curriculum and assess students' mental and social health in the context of remote, hybrid and in-person instructional models. As such, this paper examines the role that the pandemic plays in deeply complexifying the already intricate decision-making processes that teachers undergo on a daily basis.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a participant research design (Wagner, 1993) to conduct a ground-level analysis of what two high school English Language arts teachers consider as they adapt curriculum and instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Findings
This study set out to fulfill two aims: (1) to examine teacher considerations during the process of adapting curriculum and instruction and (2) to document the challenges and opportunities teachers face during this process. Findings related to the first aim revolve around teacher considerations of dilemmas such as: individual conferences vs whole class curriculum progress, depth vs breadth in relation to academic progress, social emotional concerns for student well-being vs curricular progress, creating meaningful learning activities and assessments vs COVID-19 limitations, and flexibility and accountability. In addition to navigating these dilemmas, the extreme uncertainty of the situation also prompted findings related to the second aim: opportunities to experiment with new curricular ideas and the challenge of traversing a wide range of teacher emotions.
Originality/value
This paper's qualitative research design that draws on my identities of classroom teacher and doctoral student to provide an original perspective into what teachers experienced in terms of adapting curriculum and instruction during an unprecedented time. While much research, news and media, and policy has discussed the pandemic's impact on education, there is an urgent need for more teacher voices to inform understanding of what occurs on the ground level of classrooms.