Teacher leadership AT Moroccan high schools

Teacher leadership ppt

1. Abdelkrim Mouaziz Mohamed Vall Ismail El Byad Zakariae Shimi

2. OUTLINE Introduction Definition of teacher leadership The importance of learning from mentors as teacher leaders What should teacher leaders do? The process of teacher leadership Benefits of teacher leadership skills Goals of teacher leadership Characteristics of teacher leaders Challenges of teacher leadership Conclusion

3. Abdelkrim Mouaziz Introduction Definition of teacher leadership The importance of learning from mentors as teacher leaders What should teacher leaders do?

4. Introduction Teacher leadership  is a term that took place in the United States, as a way to promote school improvement and enhancing teachers roles . That is, it is used in schools for classroom educators who simultaneously take on administrative roles outside of their classrooms to assist in functions of the larger school system. Teacher leadership tasks may include but are not limited to managing teaching, learning, and resource allocation. Teachers who engage in leadership roles are generally experienced and respected in their field which can both empower them and increase collaboration among peers.

5. Teachers Leadership is A way of organizing learning. A way of understanding the connections between knowledge and practice. A way of learning the skills , abilities and capacities for developing and nurturing community among peers. A way of negotiating the tensions between privacy and a new view of community.

6. “ Teacher leadership is the process by which teachers, individually or collectively; influence their colleagues, principals, and other members of the school community to improve teaching and learning practices with the aim of increased student learning and achievement.” York-Barr & Duke, 2004, p. 287

7. “Teacher leadership is not about formal assigned roles, but emerges informally by earning it through specific actions. These teacher leaders possess a set of skills that not only allows them to be effective in the classroom but also permits them to exert influence beyond their classroom .” Danielson (2006)

8. “Teacher leadership is an important component of student success which requires teachers to be included in the decisions that are made which affect students. This includes the basics such as class scheduling and textbook selection but it also should go further to incorporate collaboration for best practices, mentoring student teachers, providing support for new teachers and having access to student data to inform their teaching practices .” (NCATE, 2001)

9. “Teacher leadership is really a collective effort that empowers teachers to make positive contributions to the school community while establishing expectations for all teachers.” (Greenlee, 2007)

10. Learning from Mentors as Teacher Leaders Building a new identity Developing trusting relationships Accelerating teacher development Mentoring in challenging contexts Learning leadership skills

11. Teachers who lead Become inquirers into their own practice Provide leadership through their example of becoming lifelong learners Take risks by expanding their own comfort zones. Inspire their peers through a continual struggle to improve their practice.

12. Teachers who lead Work hard expanding their own knowledge base. Organize novice and veteran teachers into communities of support. Care about the content and character of colleagueship as well as the content of the curriculum. Understand that learning the culture is a critical part of leadership.

13. Teachers who lead Go public with their understandings of students; strategies for student learning and the organization of curriculum. Pursue working with their peers despite sometimes negative responses. Lead in different ways - both formally and informally.

14. Ismail El Byad The process of teacher leadership Benefits of teacher leadership skills Goals of teacher leadership

15. Process of Teacher leadership

16. Realize importance Recognize teachable skills Recruit – realize that some do need to be recruited Build leadership capabilities among teachers Nurture leadership qualities in teachers Empower teacher leaders Provide ongoing Professional Development

17. Benefits of teacher leadership skills Raising and improving school performance Making teachers effective   Contributing to school effectiveness

18. Goals of Teacher Leadership

19. Extend careers of teachers looking for growth opportunities To address the challenge of teacher attrition, leadership opportunities must attract the kind of ambitious, talented teachers who are seeking professional growth but feel ambivalent about leaving the classroom. Erin Dukeshire explains in her essay in Learning from the Experts: Teacher Leaders on Solving America's Education Challenges (Harvard Education Press, 2013), that she began to consider leaving the classroom: “I adored my students and the daily work, but leading a classroom no longer felt like enough to sustain me through an entire career.... The joys and compelling challenges of classroom teaching were not the only factors that brought me to the classroom.... I aimed to have an impact on more than the hundred students in my classes every day” (Coggins, Peske , & McGovern, 2013, p. 112).

20. Ensure a role for teachers as leaders in policy decisions affecting their practice T here also must be defined roles for teachers to lead at the policy level where they can solve the problems of the profession beyond the classroom walls. When teachers have a voice in crafting and implementing policies that affect their daily work--from evaluation reform to testing protocols--those policies are likely to work better in the classroom.

21. Improve students outcomes across school Teacher leadership has always had implicit ties to supporting improved student learning. Empowering teachers as professional leaders to prepare students to compete in an increasingly competitive and knowledge-driven global economy.

22. Characteristics of teacher leaders Mohamed Vall

23. 1- Approachability : B eing approachable is a characteristic of a teacher leader who should be also patient and non-threatening when asked for guidance.

24. 2- Excellent communication skills: This includes listening thoroughly and providing constructive feedback. Innovative teacher leaders often have creative solutions to learning obstacles

25. 3- Coaching skills: The teacher leader must serve as a coach to motivate and drive change. You feel you are supported by his/her encouragment .

26. 4- Positive personality: A teacher leader is one who the students feel comfortable working with because he/she is always reassuring

27. 5- A passion of teaching: A good sign of teacher leaders is that of the teacher being passionate about teaching. A teacher leader is someone who loves what he/she is doing.

28. 6- Non-evaluative: The teacher leader is a support person and not a teacher evaluator.

29. 7- Time management, multitasking, and organizational skills : The ability to effectively manage time, balance many tasks, and being well-organized are distinguishable skills that often teach leaders have.

30. 8- Flexibility: T eacher leaders are flexible and willing to try a different approach if the first effort runs into roadblocks.

31. 9- High personal standards and objective to be the best: Teacher leaders always want their students to reach as high achievmients as possible.

32. 10- Sense of responsibility: Teacher leaders feel responsibility to work creatively and always attempt to finish started work.

33. 11- Motivation and inspiration of a team: A teacher leader is always able to motivate students to study. He/she is also a source of inspiration of the students.

34. 12- Critical thinking skills: Teacher leaders often have this ability to analyze information objectively and make a reasoned judgment .

35. Challenges facing teacher leadership Zakariae Shimi

36. Teacher leadership is a 21 st century trend in education that is required for the development of students, school, and community as a whole. However, teacher confront different internal and external challenges to be leaders in their classes and schools. T hus, they need to reconsider their roles as teachers in their classes and schools.

37. Role Definitions Studies suggest that problems often result when teacher leadership roles are not well defined While leadership roles can provide important benefits they have also proven to be highly problematic. Studies have shown that teacher leaders confront a number of constraints as they learn to negotiate new roles and relationships. Teacher leaders who are given the opportunity to create and shape their own roles receive more support and experience greater success than those who are less willing and able to take initiative

38. Time Teacher leaders report that time constraints significantly limit their ability to succeed in the dual roles of both teacher and leader With additional responsibilities and little extra time, teachers are often forced to make sacrifices that compromise their ability to be effective in both roles . Time to experiment, reflect and create is essential for teachers. They need time to talk to other teachers, develop materials, deal with conflicts and build collegial relationships. Time for planning, reflection, and evaluation

39. School culture/context A lack of support and encouragement from school administrators and teaching colleagues often poses the biggest obstacles for teacher leaders. Teacher leaders found that school norms of privacy and isolation made it difficult to foster collegiality and promote the sharing of ideas. Teacher leaders were repeatedly confronted by the "egalitarian nature of teaching" and had to work hard to gain acceptance and respect

40. Lack of cooperation There is a lack of cooperation between teachers who are more concerned with what happens inside their classes. When teachers begin their career, many of today's new teachers expect to work in teams but are dismayed to find themselves working alone day after day. (Johnson & Donaldson, (2007): Overcoming the Obstacles to Leadership )

41. Skills There are skills and abilities, which can be labeled and learned, that make leadership more effective. Teachers need access to information and training.

42. Centralisation of authority Research suggests that while decentralisation may have occurred from the system to school level, it has not necessarily occurred within schools. Further, where decentralisation has occurred within schools it tended to be about administrative rather than education matters. This situation should be of concern, especially given evidence teachers are attracted to, and stay in, the profession if they feel they belong and believe they are contributing to the success of their school and students. ( Mulford , 2003: SCHOOL LEADERS: CHALLENGING ROLES AND IMPACT ON TEACHER AND SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS ) The programme of the school and the performance of principals and teachers may also be regularly scrutinised through personnel assessment or inspectorial visits by central authorities or their delegates Authority to lead need not be located in the person of the leader but can be dispersed within the school between and among people

43. Many teachers have been made to feel like servants, taking orders from distant administrators, politicians, and special interest groups who have no knowledge of their classrooms or the needs of their students . (Teachers as Leaders) It is this decision-making ability, I believe, that defines any profession....We need a teaching position with more imaginative space, more ownership, more room to make a difference. This comes only from having the autonomy to make one’s own educational decisions. Lederhouse (2001)

44. Attitudes towards change Sometimes, teachers are reluctant to adopt new approaches in their teaching process. Thus, adopting and implementing leadership skills in class would be challenging. Training cannot be necessarily successful with these teachers unless they change their attitude towards implementing leadership competencies in their classes and schools

45. Moreover, students sometimes consider the teacher as controller and the responsible for their own learning. That is why, they take a passive role in the learning process. This role can be adopted from their past experiences Students may be reluctant to adopt new active roles in the class such as risk- taking, decision-making, etc. that they are not accustomed to.

46. Approaches and conceptions of teaching Teachers who see teaching as imparting knowledge are more likely to focus on transmission of knowledge rather than developing students leadership skills that require students to interact, to work together, to assume responsibility, to develop problem-solving strategies, to engage in the learning process, and so on and so forth. “trying to engage students more directly in their learning, to make them co-workers with teachers i n the learning process rather than just recipients of knowledge [because]… students do things because they are interested rather that because they are told.” (OECD, 2001b, p.2 cited in Mulford , 2003: SCHOOL LEADERS: CHALLENGING ROLES AND IMPACT ON TEACHER AND SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS )

47. Conclusion Today, leadership roles have begun to emerge and promise real opportunities for teachers to impact educational change-without necessarily leaving the classroom. Teachers are now serving as research colleagues, working as advisor-mentors to new teachers, and facilitating professional development activities as master teachers. Teachers also act as members of school-based leadership teams, instructional support teams and leaders of change efforts. In addition, teachers are forging a number of new and unique leadership roles through their own initiative by developing and implementing programs they personally believe will result in positive change.

48. We firmly believe that creating a system focused on the ongoing improvement of instruction must be the central aim of any education improvement effort. . . . Student achievement will not improve unless and until we create schools and districts where all educators are learning how to significantly improve their skills as teachers and as instructional leaders. — Wagner et. Al. (2012), Change Leadership: A Practical Guide to Transforming Our Schools

49. When teachers adopt learner- centred approaches that are aligned to shared leadership, learners become involved in the learning process through being informed about expectations and objectives of learning, sharing decision-making and hence responsibility, interaction with the teacher and peers, collaboration, and so on. Thus, learners have a say about what is happening in class Students can develop leadership competencies that can be adopted from the teacher who can be considered as a model for shared leadership