TeachersTopic is a periodical feature about a subject of interest to the teaching community written by a prominent expert in the field. As National Teacher of the Year, Dr. Rogers’ platform has been “All Children-An Equal Chance.” As a part of this equity in education platform, Dr. Rogers believes one way to close the gap between the affluent and impoverished schools is to recruit our strongest teachers to our weakest schools. Based on this belief, she requested to teach at Brighton Elementary this year. Brighton is the neediest school in Jefferson County. Dr. Rogers is currently serving as Curriculum Specialist at Brighton. We are featuring this piece by Dr. Roger’s, who answers questions about her experience and teacher leadership.
Q: How would you define “teacher leadership?”
A: It is almost impossible to define teacher leadership in a few words. There are so many different ways that teachers can lead in and outside the classroom. In just the last few years, we’ve seen the term used to describe teachers who work as coaches or instructional leaders; teachers who serve on school, district, state or national advisory or policymaking groups; teachers who chair departments or school teams; teachers who provide the energy to sustain professional learning communities—and we could cite many more examples. For me, personally, my goal is to be an active and effective teacher leader so that I can directly impact my school, its teachers and most importantly the students.
Q: To what extent do you feel that the public school system is set up to support the development of teachers as leaders?
A: In the world of accountability that educators live in today, there is much pressure for administrators to be instructional leaders. I have listened to many debates questioning whether this is truly possible, given the huge burden that is often placed on administrators. So it’s not surprising that we’re seeing more and more discussion about using teachers as leaders of school improvement. It makes sense. Accomplished teachers have knowledge and insights about effective instruction that can really help us improve learning throughout a school.
But I’m not sure we’ve figured out how to tap into the leadership potential of expert teachers without removing them from the work of teaching. This is a major concern of mine. I am now the Curriculum Specialist in my school. I reluctantly agreed to accept this position last year. My principal was the only administrator on our K-8 campus, and she needed a helping hand. However, to accept this position, I had to leave the classroom. Too often, teachers only become school leaders when they are taken out of the classroom—and when they try to lead from the classroom, they rarely get the release time they need to perform extra duties. They quickly burn out.
I watched this first hand a few years ago as a young colleague in my school began to show strong leadership qualities and started to wear many hats. After several years of being the person who served on all the committees, planned major events, and wrote many of the school plans—while still trying to teach a full load—she was ready to quit the profession. Public schools are embracing the idea of teachers as leaders, but often we have failed to create a structure that makes this possible without overwhelming them or taking away their teacher identity. It is time for schools to consider such practices as job sharing, release time, and sabbaticals, and to make such practices a regular part of the way they “do school.”
Q: On what issues do you think it’s most important for teachers to assert themselves as leaders?
A: I believe our first duty as teacher leaders is to seek ways to improve learning in our schools. A teacher who is an excellent classroom instructor leads by modeling the art of effective teaching. Teacher leaders should seek opportunities to work cooperatively with colleagues and parents in ways that will help make schools a collaborative enterprise. Teacher leaders have an obligation to be a voice for children. It took many years of teaching to understand the importance of using my teacher voice. This realization came to me one summer when I helped with a mission project in a small rural south Alabama town. Our project was to paint a local armory that was to be used for after-school tutoring. I was shocked at the conditions in which these children were expected to learn—poor facilities, a lack of materials, weak leadership, and low expectations. Although I had always taught in a Title I school, I truly had never seen poverty like we found in this area. I realized that as a professional educator, I had to become a voice for children who are so often overlooked by the system.
