My Barriers to Successful Teacher Leadership

I looked through the list of barriers, and though some seemed to fit me and my context, since I am moving into a specific new role next year, there are more pressing barriers that I see.  In the spirit of the assignment, I thought working through some of these barriers was more germane.

Barrier 1 – New position, same people

Next year I am moving from a more traditional “team leader” role into that of “Learning Community Leader.”  While on paper that seems merely a semantic shift, in reality it is much more than that.  The previous team leader position was, as it is in most places, an add-on, stipended position that was additional work on top of my classroom responsibilities.  The LCL position dramatically shifts my responsibilities, making my day 50% direct student contact and 50% leadership and coaching.  Much of the reason behind this shift is echoed by Lieberman and Miller (2004)as they discuss “Transforming the Social Realities of Teaching,” (end of chapter 1).  The barrier I perceive is two-fold.  First, although there will be at least one new team member next year, the majority of my Learning Community is stable and will return.  So I will be performing a new job with the same people.  Though in some ways this is an advantage (I know the people, the history, the struggles, and the successes), it is also a disadvantage because everyone already has a relationship with me built on a different playing field.  It is going to take a lot of work for me to alter the relationships while maintaining the friendships.  My job as team leader, while not simply secretarial, was more of an advocate on their behalf.  My new role will add coaching and mentoring.  While some in my community will readily accept this, others don’t see me this way.  I am going to have to work hard to check my ego and listen to my colleagues; to understand what they need and try to provide coaching for those needs (rather than any needs I may perceive).

Barrier 2 – Unclear understanding of the concept

This is going to be tough for our entire school.  The shift to LCLs is happening K12, not simply in elementary school.  There was a swift and dramatic push-back on the notion in the secondary school, who, due to their reaction is, for the moment, still retaining their traditional team leader and department chair roles along with the new LCLs.  As we move into this new realm of teacher leadership “closer to the ground” the definitions and roles of all the people involved have yet to be ironed out.  In one way, this makes perfect sense.  Each LC is different and the skills and passions of each LCL are different.  To simply create an ironclad job description that all six of us fulfill in dramatically different circumstances seems draconian and destined to fail (because it is top-down instead of grassroots).  Although the creation of these positions began with the director, we will each work to define our role around the specific needs of our LC (within some parameters, of course).  This makes the most sense to me, but it is confusing to those who know even less than the LCLs about what is going on.  When teachers get confused, they begin to talk amongst themselves and the sidewalk talk can potentially kill the effectiveness of these positions before we even begin.  Therefore we each have to create as much a sense of transparency as possible as we discuss with our teams what our visions are and what we know.  As they say, sunshine is the best disinfectant and darkness grows mold.  If we (the LCLs) are perceived as having hidden knowledge we aren’t sharing, we will damage our credibility and ability to influence others.  Our positional power won’t mean much if this happens.  For my part, I am trying to answer all the questions I can and be forthcoming in my answers.  Additionally, I am already trying to talk less and listen more as people are describing their own thoughts about next year.  Hopefully this will begin to not only help with the uncertainty but also bridge any divides mentioned in barrier one.

Barrier 3 – Perceived lack of equity – egalitarian paradigm

One of the quotes from the Katzenmeyer and Moller (2009) that stood out to me was in regards to the perceived, “egalitarian norms of school cultures,” which “suggest that all teachers should be equal,” (loc. 131).  The idea of equity has plagued our school with teachers creating negative cycles around the perceived favoritism.  To be fair to those who complain, the previous administration operated in the dark areas that the authors warn about – only deeming certain people eligible for leadership roles.  The lack of transparency has created a dark stain on the fabric of the faculty and the sunshine of the new administration hasn’t fully disinfected it yet.  But since it is still there, it will take its toll on those of us in these new positions.  Even though the positions were advertised and interviewed, there are still those who believe that those of us who were given this opportunity were only chosen because we are in the “right clique.” The strategy for overcoming this will be similar to above – a lot of listening and working with my teammates on what they are interested in and on their terms.  Taking my ego out of the equation is going to be hard, but is the only path to truly helping others grow into who they wish to be as teachers and learners.