Professional Development in Education

ISSN: 1941-5257 (Print) 1941-5265 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjie20

Pathways to teacher leadership among English-

as-a-second-language teachers: professional
development by and for emerging teacher leaders

Laura Baecher

To cite this article: Laura Baecher (2012) Pathways to teacher leadership among English-as-
a-second-language teachers: professional development by and for emerging teacher leaders,
Professional Development in Education, 38:2, 317-330, DOI: 10.1080/19415257.2012.657877

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2012.657877

Published online: 10 Apr 2012.

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Professional Development in Education
Vol. 38, No. 2, April 2012, 317–330

Pathways to teacher leadership among English-as-a-second-

language teachers: professional development by and for emerging
teacher leaders
Laura Baecher*

Masters in TESOL Program, Department of Curriculum and Teaching, Hunter College, City
University of New York, 695 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA
(Received 28 May 2011; final version received 12 August 2011)

While the scope of activities that constitute teacher leadership has become better
defined, the professional development of emerging teacher leaders is just begin-
ning to be discussed. In this study, the teacher leadership activities of beginning
English-as-a-second-language teachers in a wide variety of settings in New York
City public schools were examined in terms of the professional direction, sup-
port and development that these new teachers received that set them on the path
to teacher leadership. Identified were several paths to teacher leadership, which
ranged from well-defined to ill-structured. This paper sheds light on the genera-
tive processes involved, and contextualizes the role of novice teacher leaders
against increased attention to teacher leadership in the United States.
Keywords: professional development; teacher leadership; Teaching English to
Speakers of Other Languages; English as a second language; novice teachers

Introduction
While many teachers have long acted in various leadership capacities, the term ‘tea-
cher leadership’ is now better understood – and valued – than ever. As school
reform encourages administrators to move towards a paradigm of distributive lead-
ership (Fullan 2001, Leverett 2002), in which teachers share leadership and are
active decision-makers, the need for teacher leaders to step into these roles must
keep pace, since research has shown that teacher leadership in schools and districts:

(1) improves teacher quality, and hence student learning, as accomplished teach-
ers serve as models of practice for colleagues (York-Barr and Duke 2004);
(2) supports reform efforts, by guiding colleagues through implementation of
new practices (Childs-Bowen et al. 2000);
(3) encourages the retention and recruitment of teachers through providing ave-
nues for motivation and recognition (Hirsch 2006);
(4) provides opportunities for teacher leaders’ ongoing professional growth
(Barth 2002);
(5) creates a more democratic school environment (Harris 2003);
(6) increases the sense of professionalism among teachers (Hinchey 1997);

*Email: lbaecher@hunter.cuny.edu

ISSN 1941-5257 print/ISSN 1941-5265 online

Ó 2012 International Professional Development Association (IPDA)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2012.657877
http://www.tandfonline.com
318 L. Baecher

(7) extends teachers’ influence beyond the school and into the district (Danielson
2007); and
(8) extends principal capacity by reducing principals’ workload (Barth 2001).

Principals play the pivotal role in either promoting or hindering the work of tea-
cher leaders (Goe 2007). Yet, it is not clear which teachers become teacher leaders,
how they both identify and develop these professional skills in themselves, and then
how to foster these skills among pre-service and in-service teachers.
For instance, it is generally assumed that effective teacher leaders rise from the
ranks of mid-career, experienced practitioners who have proven their ability to per-
form in the classroom, are ready to take on new challenges, and have the trust and
respect of their colleagues (Sherrill 1999, Phelps 2008). Growth from teacher to tea-
cher leader evolves over time and depends upon the mentoring and coaching not
just of the building leader, but of their peers, who slowly accept them in these roles.
Lave’s (1997) organizational theory of ‘communities of practice’ describes the
induction process as involving beginners at the periphery of a group gradually mov-
ing – over time – towards leadership roles within the community. What, then, is
taking place when teachers step into the role of teacher leader in their first few
years at a school?
An unexpected outcome of a research project investigating the collaborative
teaching practices of English-as-a-second-language (ESL) teachers (Baecher and
Bell 2011) revealed that many of the new teachers interviewed appeared to be
already involved in the types of activities associated with teacher leaders, especially
in the arena of conducting professional development for colleagues. The purpose of
this paper is to share results of a qualitative study that was designed to learn more
about this phenomenon. This research combined survey data from 24 participant
novice teachers with in-depth interviews conducted over the period of a school year
of five self-identified ‘teacher leaders’, to investigate the nature of the professional
development activities they conducted, and received, which brought them into the
role of teacher leader in their first three years of teaching.
Research questions guiding this inquiry were as follows:

• What professional development activities were being led by novice teachers?

• What brought these novice teachers into participation in professional develop-
ment activities?
• What types of professional development were offered to these novice teachers
to become teacher leaders?

Emerging definition of standards for teacher leaders in the United States

The variety of ways in which a teacher may serve in a leadership capacity has
grown in scope and substance, and represents a continuum of formal and informal
practices. Traditional teacher leadership roles may have included department chairs,
association or union leaders, and curriculum developers (Boyd-Dimock and McGree
1995), whereas today these roles include a wide array of responsibilities as well as
methods of performing these tasks. Smylie et al. (2005) even concluded that these
new approaches to teacher leadership appear to be more effective than formal lead-
ership roles in promoting school improvement, specifically referencing action tea-
cher research and self-improvement inquiry teams. The extent to which these varied
roles have been recognized in the United States is manifested in the recent work to
 Professional Development in Education 319

develop model teacher leader standards at the national level. This project was devel-
oped by the Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium, which consists of repre-
sentatives from the Council of Chief State School Officers, the Center for Teaching
Quality and other education organizations, state education agencies and institutes of
higher education, as well as teacher leaders and principals. The consortium’s pur-
pose was to exhaustively codify the roles of teacher leaders, which were then made
public in the form of a standards document for comment and review in April 2010,
and published in June 2011. The consortium defined its task as: ‘stimulat[ing] dia-
logue among stakeholders of the teaching profession about what constitutes the
knowledge, skills and competencies that teachers need to assume leadership roles in
their schools, districts, and the profession’.1 The components, or domains, of these
Teacher Leader Model Standards are presented in Table 1.
The wide range of activities delineated in these domains further cements modern
conceptions of what a teacher leader does, and in so doing includes many teacher
activities that may not have previously been considered ‘leadership’ activities. In
addition, by describing these competencies and behaviours in detail, schools and
institutions of higher education can now better identify which types of teacher work
fall into the category of teacher leadership, offer opportunities for teachers to take
on the types of activities that are defined in this compendium, and then begin to
evaluate the quality of this work. Pre-service programmes looking to foster teacher
leadership among its graduates have found this an area for growth (Leeper et al.
2010). Therefore, the Teacher Leader Model Standards can support understanding
of teacher leadership and serve as a roadmap for professional development for
teacher leaders, or potential teacher leaders.

Developing new teachers into teacher leaders

As codified in Ash and Persall’s (2000) theory of Formative Leadership, there is a
very clear call to principals to become a ‘leader of leaders’ and to recognize the
importance of fostering the leadership skills of teachers. Theories of organizational
change have fuelled the school reform movement, and offer insights for school
leaders into how they might view their own relationships with teachers, nurturing
the growth of teacher leaders. The development of teachers as leaders has come to
be understood as the confluence of a whole host of organizational, cultural, interper-
sonal and personal characteristics (see Table 2).
A variety of ‘ingredients’ on the part of both the teacher and the school leader
may lead to the growth of teacher leadership. These ingredients must be supplied
by both parties, for if the teacher has many of them, but the school leader does not,
leadership will be suppressed; if, on the other hand, the school leader has many of
these qualities but does not have teachers who fit these descriptors, so too
leadership will fail to grow.
With the definition of teacher leadership more fully expanded to include many
types of teacher activities, and the conditions for emergent leadership well docu-
mented, are the conditions ripe for relatively new teachers to step into these roles?
One assumption may be that teacher leaders must be experienced professionals
looking to take on new challenges in their careers, yet large turnovers of staff,
school re-organization, and early retirements may make today’s newly qualified
teachers more likely than ever to be called upon to participate in activities beyond
the scope of their classroom teaching.
320 L. Baecher

Table 1. Domains of teacher leadership.

The teacher leader:

Domain Understanding adults as learners to • Facilitates group processes to solve
1 support professional learning problems, make decisions, promote
communities change
• Works to create an inclusive cohort
of colleagues who share resources
and trust each other

Domain Accessing and using research to • Assists colleagues in accessing

2 improve practice and student research and student learning
achievement data
• Facilitates analysis of student data
and application of findings to revise
instructional strategies

Domain Promoting professional learning for • Provides feedback to colleagues to

3 continuous improvement strengthen teaching practice and
improve student learning
• Identifies and promotes a variety of
professional learning based on col-
leagues’ learning needs

Domain Facilitating improvements in • Supports colleagues’ growth by serv-

4 instruction and student learning ing in roles such as mentor, coach,
content facilitator or peer evaluator
• Serves as a team leader to harness
the skills, expertise, and knowledge
of colleagues

Domain Using assessments and data for
5 school and district improvement
• Facilitates teams of teachers in scor-
ing and interpreting student perfor-
mance data
• Works with colleagues to use assess-
ment and data findings to recom-
mend potential changes in
organizational structure or practice

Domain Improving outreach and • Uses knowledge of different back-

6 collaboration with families and grounds, ethnicities, cultures and
communities languages to promote effective inter-
actions with families
• Facilitates colleagues’ self-examina-
tion of their own understandings of
community culture and diversity

Domain Advocating for student learning and • Advocates for the rights and needs
7 the profession of students, to secure additional
resources for student learning
• Represents the profession in contexts
outside of the classroom
Source: Adapted from Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium (2010).
 Professional Development in Education 321

Table 2. Development of teachers into teacher leaders.

The teacher… The principal/school leader…

Personal Shows initiative, desire, interest Is supportive, confident in a vision of
qualities teachers as leaders
Interpersonal Is collegial, liked, admired Is able to encourage teachers to take on
new roles
Knowledge Brings expertise or specialized Sees teachers in building as resources
knowledge
Situational Is placed in high contact with Provides time for collaboration
colleagues
Opportunities Is empowered to make Practices shared decision making
decisions
Orientation Embraces innovation Engenders innovation
Note: Compiled from: Barth (2002), Childs-Bowen et al. (2000), Harris (2003), Fullan (2001), Gabriel
(2005), Phelps (2008) and York-Barr and Duke (2004).

Methodology
Participants
The study took place at a large, urban college of education located in the north-
eastern United States. Forty recent graduates of the Masters in Teaching English to
Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) programme, who were all currently teaching
in New York City K–12 public schools as ESL teachers, were invited to participate
in the study during the academic year 2009/10, and 24 did. It should be noted that
these teachers had participated in a New York City Teaching Fellows programme,
which recruits academically strong college graduates and funds their two-year mas-
ter’s course of study, which they complete while working as full-time teachers.
Therefore, although participants had graduated either one or two years prior to the
study, they were in their third or fourth year of teaching.

Data collection and analysis

A questionnaire was designed based upon the domain areas identified in the draft
Model Teacher Leader Standards document (Teacher Leadership Exploratory
Consortium 2010), and distributed via an online survey. The questionnaire consisted
of open-ended prompts (see Appendix 1). Anonymous responses were initially
coded according to the constant comparative process (Glaser 1965). The first round
of coding aligned with the domain areas in the Teacher Leader Standards, which
had guided the construction of the protocol questions. After applying this frame-
work, a second round of coding was conducted in order to understand how those
teachers who had self-identified as teacher leaders came into these positions. Fol-
lowing this phase, self-described teacher leaders were invited to participate in an in-
depth interview to inquire more deeply into how they had evolved into their roles.
Five teachers who had previously participated in the online questionnaire were then
individually interviewed and audio-recorded, and their responses were also coded
and categorized. Member checking was then done after both rounds of data collec-
tion to ensure that participants could elaborate and verify that interpretations made
of their comments were accurate.
322 L. Baecher

Results
Professional development activities
Of the 24 surveys that were completed, only two indicated no participation in any
of the seven domains of teacher leadership as compiled by the Teacher Leadership
Consortium (2010). Twenty-two of the teachers were involved in at least three of
the seven domains of teacher leadership, five were involved in at least five of them,
and three were involved in all seven domains. Alignment of the activities reported
to these seven domains indicates that the bulk of professional activities engaged in
by study participants fell into the areas of collaborative instructional planning, con-
ducting professional development (PD) for colleagues, and participating in data-
inquiry teams.
Professional development for colleagues largely consisted of preparing subject-
area expertise – teaching English-language learners (ELLs) – for content-area/class-
room teachers with significant ELL populations in their classrooms. Participants
described these as ranging from small group sessions to parent workshops and lar-
ger staff training. Some sample responses include:

Topics have included sharing best practices, discussing the importance of state exams,
looking at student work, analyzing student data on ARIS [computer-based student
information system], using data to differentiate instruction, and conducting the process
of inquiry (action research). I have worked with groups as large as 30–45 teachers, a
team of 8 teachers and one-on-one.

I have presented information pertaining to ELLs three times this year to my small
learning community. Topics included an explanation of testing accommodations, ELL
demographics, and teaching ELLs in content courses.

Many respondents noted that they felt surprised that they were being asked to pro-
vide professional development to more seasoned colleagues. For example:

I have planned PD for my colleagues for the NYSESLAT [New York State English as
a Second Language Achievement Test]. In particular, I have led rubric calibration train-
ing sessions for the ESL and English departments, and I have been asked to lead dis-
cussions on NYSESLAT proficiency levels for my entire PLE [Personalized Learning
Environment], approximately 40 colleagues – all older and more experienced than I.

I’ve taught about three or four PDs and I’m only in my second year of ESL teaching
in the system.

Even though I have done [professional development at my school], I would not

consider myself a teacher leader, I am just finishing my third year and the people who
are considered teacher leaders have been working for like 20 years.

One challenge was being the new kid at the school and being a leader because some
of the veterans did not appreciate that.

It is wonderful to have the flexibility and I have learned to think about teaching from
the administrative/leadership perspective. However, it is incredibly challenging to be
the youngest, least experienced person in my department, and yet be in charge of
managing older, more experienced colleagues. Sometimes there is resistance.
 Professional Development in Education 323

A few responses indicated that some of the teachers felt uncomfortable,

overwhelmed or even taken advantage of by being asked to provide professional
development at their schools, as in these examples:

I have incredibly mixed feelings about being a teacher leader. On the one hand, it’s an
honor to be asked to take on extra projects and challenges, to be trusted and valued as
a do-er, and to be known as someone who makes a positive difference in the school
community. On the other hand, it’s a challenging position within my school environ-
ment, because being a teacher leader is not the norm. There is a culture … among
most of the staff members which does not encourage moving up, taking leadership or
doing extra projects. There is an underlying resentment and resistance against people
who take the lead, and it seems that because so few teachers are willing to be leaders,
the same few people constantly get asked to do the work of many. Instead of building
capacity and distributing leadership, the same few people get ‘dumped on.’ As a tea-
cher leader, it’s important to view new responsibilities as opportunities, but at the
same time, too many responsibilities can become overwhelming.

I have done three PDs during in-service days: on Snapgrades [web-based grade book],
twice; on a classroom management system called ‘Loose Change, Big Money,’ twice;
and on the book ‘Teach Like a Champion.’ I was asked to do each of these by the
administration. The audience for each was the entire faculty. I didn’t receive any com-
pensation, which rankles a little, especially for the last, which took some time to pre-
pare.

Many of the teachers indicated that in spite of the stress and additional demands
being placed upon them, they felt they had benefited from being asked to provide
professional development to their colleagues and that doing so had caused them to
grow and expand their skills, as well as becoming ‘known’ by the school adminis-
tration. A couple of particularly strong examples are:

The major benefit is knowing how many of the daily systems and procedures work at
the school, and being able to fine tune them on the fly if need be. I can carry these
experiences with me as I move beyond my school. A second benefit is being thought
of as indispensable by the administration. Many of the … initiatives that are technical
in nature require knowledge that I’ve derived over the years … having an intimate
understanding of many aspects of how the school functions makes it easier for me to
go about my daily business and take ownership of the entire school community with a
confidence that I would not otherwise be able to have.

The benefits are that I get to help plan professional development and that it makes me
a stronger teacher because I feel more of a responsibility to be a model teacher. I hold
myself to higher standards and I hold others to higher standards. I feel like I have
better conversations with my colleagues, and that those conversations make me a
better teacher. I feel like more of a professional.

Pathways into teacher leadership

Once teacher responses in regard to type of leadership activities were sorted and
coded, data from the online surveys and the interviews were organized around
descriptions of how these teacher leadership activities were initiated. There seemed
to be two pathways into initial involvement with leadership activities: informal and
formal.
The ‘informal’ pathway was initiated by the teacher to fill a perceived void in
meeting student needs. In these cases, teachers identified a need through their own
324 L. Baecher

observations, and voluntarily began to try to address it. In almost every instance of
this, what the teacher began to do as a volunteer led to recognition by the school
leadership and was followed by a request to continue this work in a more formal
manner. This ‘formal’ pathway consisted of payment for additional service, provi-
sion of a title, or creation of a specialized position in the school community. Some
samples from responses are:

Early on I began to take on leadership-type responsibilities because my school’s

administration was in transition, many vital leadership tasks were not being completed,
and I felt that one of my strengths was in responding to these needs. The principal
asked me to take on formal roles such as data coordinator and technology coordinator,
and others were more informal. I took the lead in arranging consultation committee
meetings with the principal, for example, and also volunteered to take the lead in man-
aging the school’s on-line grading system and designing a section sheet for the classes.
For the most part, the need was there and I volunteered. The suggestion by the princi-
pal that I become the data coordinator was made in part so that I could be compen-
sated for that and other work that otherwise did not have any funds attached it.

The day I started at my second school, I became a teacher leader. When I came into
the school, the ESL and the ELL student program was in total disarray. The school
was out of compliance from the HLIS [Home Language Inventory] to the LAB-R
[Language Assessment Battery] to students getting their mandated time and the very
services they require. My first job I was asked to complete was to write a 10-page
report about how we were out of compliance for the last few years and what needed
to be done to improve upon the negative statistics. In my first year, I wrote all of the
AP [Assistant Principal] reports … The principal approached me and asked me to be
the ESL lead teacher. She told me that I would be given the title, but unfortunately
they did not have the funds to pay me for the job.

A direct ‘formal’ pathway into teacher leadership usually came in the form of a
personal request from a school administrator, a direct request from another teacher
leader, usually a literacy coach, or as a functional aspect of the ESL teaching
position. One example is:

The principal encouraged me to apply for the LAB/BESIS [Testing] Coordinator posi-
tion in the ESL Department. I had an administrative background, thus it seemed like a
natural outgrowth of my background and skills. I applied for the position in June and
started working as the coordinator in August, at the beginning of the new school year.
The criteria on the job posting required the candidate be a tenured teacher with at least
three years of experience. As it turned out, no other members of the ESL Department
applied for the position, and I got the job as an untenured teacher with less than a year
of teaching experience in New York! Although I didn’t realize it at the time, by
applying for the coordinator position, I was signing up to become a teacher leader.

Professional development support

After both the type of leadership activities and the initial route into these activities
were better understood, how these ESL teachers learned to do these jobs and how
their work was supported or encouraged was then explored. The professional devel-
opment of teacher leadership fell into three general models, coded here as: appren-
tice, participation, and self-help.
In the ‘apprentice’ paradigm, the teacher learns new skills and techniques for
conducting leadership activities, but it is done through an individual relationship
 Professional Development in Education 325

with a particular administrator or teacher leader, and may not be experienced other
than through this source. This individual has a strong influence and may take the
teacher under his/her wing. In this model, the teacher designs professional develop-
ment activities from a ‘script’ provided to him or her, or delivers a ‘turn-key’ train-
ing without any modifications. These activities could also include how to conduct
teacher workshops that follow specific steps and procedures. An example from a
respondent fitting this model is:

I have worked closely with my supervisors over the past few years to plan PDs for
the ESL department and small learning communities. I have learned how to lead a tea-
cher team by establishing norms, protocols, agendas, following-up with email and
informally, one-on-one with teachers.

In the ‘participation’ model of professional development support for the emerg-

ing teacher leader, the teacher observed and participated in a particular school activ-
ity for a period of time, and was then asked to join in the activity. In these cases,
no one directly told the teacher how to do what they needed to do, but gave them
support and feedback when it was requested, and offered many opportunities to wit-
ness the activity. When the teacher was ready to take on a greater leadership role,
others were ready to accept him/her. In this case other senior teachers in the school
seem to be the ones offering direction or feedback on how to conduct the leadership
activity, rather than a principal. Examples from teachers’ responses are:

I spent my first year on the school’s Inquiry Team, which investigated a few students
who had the ability to do better, but for whatever reason were struggling in school. In
my second year, all of the teachers conducted action research for a sample of 5 stu-
dents. We presented our findings at a PD towards the end of the year.

This role evolved in my third year when I took on a new role on my team by plan-
ning our agenda and by joining the professional development committee. Both of
these were things I initiated. I wanted to join the PD committee because I knew I’d
learn a lot, and I was the only person on my team interested in being on the commit-
tee. This is the group that plans professional development. I began organizing team
meetings because after a few years of being on one team, I got moved to a new one
(from 9/10th grade to 12th grade) and nobody on this team was interested in taking
on that role. It was easy for me to do.

The third manner in which the emerging teacher leader learns new skills and
develops into his/her role seemed to be a ‘self-help’ model. In these cases, the
teachers reported recognizing a need not being met by the school leadership and
stepping in to perform this role. These teachers often created collaborative relation-
ships and partnerships with peer teachers, and resourced teacher friends, community
organizations and university connections outside of their schools to discover what
they needed in order to grow and develop:

I assumed it because it is in my job description as the ESL coordinator to educate

other teachers regarding the levels and productivity of ELLs. I felt comfortable
because my school is very open and inviting. I have been given lots of support this
year from other teachers and we have worked collaboratively concerning the students
we share.
326 L. Baecher

I work with colleagues to co-plan and align curriculum, arrange enriching field trips,
co-teach content area classes and co-plan writing activities in art classes. I have initi-
ated community partnerships with outside organizations such as museums and profes-
sional publishing companies. Outside of school, I constantly meet with colleagues
from different schools, mentors and educators to get new ideas about how I can sup-
port the success of my ELLs. I also visit other schools to get concrete ideas about
what is working well to promote student achievement, and I bring the ideas back to
share with colleagues.

The difficulty this model brought up was that many new teachers are unable to fig-
ure out the appropriate direction to take for the professional development of others
at their school, and, without administrative or peer support, being left to ‘be their
own mentor’ can cause great stress:

At first, and now even, I was uncomfortable with the fact that I was suddenly an
‘expert’ in literacy as I was learning what that area of teaching was about…But this is
difficult when I have no direct literacy supervisor other than my principal who is busy
establishing a new school. I am still researching assessments and curricula appropriate
for identifying low-literacy ELLs, but mostly create what’s suitable for the school’s
specific population. Challenges: resentment from other classroom teachers, misunder-
standing of what I do and who I serve, being my own mentor at times.

Discussion and recommendations

School leaders today are immersed in professional development that will help them
understand the tremendous benefits of teacher leadership, but teachers themselves
need to be invited to the conversation. While 22 of the 24 teachers surveyed for this
paper participated in many activities considered teacher leadership, less than one-
half of them recognized these activities as such. As Hargreaves (2008, p. xi)
pointed out, teacher leadership is an ‘unsung tradition’ – and if it is to be nourished
and grown, teachers themselves should be supported in interpreting their leadership
activities. To foster and sustain teacher leadership, its seeds must be planted early,
while teachers are enrolled in initial certification programmes, and then developed
purposefully while in their first years of teaching. Whether it seems premature or
not, the reality that this research has shown is that already in their first years, teach-
ers are being called upon to take on leadership roles in their schools. Professional
development, therefore, must be shaped to meet their needs.

Professional development for teacher leadership

Teacher leaders must not be seen as simply deliverers of professional development
to others, but as recipients as well. In pre-service, induction and in an ongoing
manner, teacher leaders will depend upon quality professional development aimed
at their needs. Some recommendations based upon this research are as follows.

Address the development of teacher leaders in pre-service and in-service

programmes
Some institutions of higher education have already oriented themselves not only
towards educating teachers, but towards preparing them for roles as teacher leaders,
and offer master’s programmes, certificates and institutes in teacher leadership. As
 Professional Development in Education 327

the need to support teachers who wish to move into leadership roles is better recog-
nized, there have been some post-graduation institutes responding to the need to
offer professional development to ESL teachers. For instance, the Bilingual/ESL
Teacher Leadership Academy2 at Bank Street College in New York City offers a
certificate programme with intense coaching and summer coursework in teacher
leadership for ELLs.

Familiarize teachers with the array of teacher leadership options available

Knowing at various grade levels the types of teacher leadership activities that are
possible could support novice teachers in anticipating the avenues through which
they can develop as teacher leaders. Resources such as that of Gabriel (2005) offer
a variety of formal and informal tasks that teacher leaders ‘are expected to know
but rarely do’. In addition, online resources can make available to teachers types of
leadership activities that might take place outside the school, such as writing for
publications, making presentations or reaching out to the community.

Assist teachers in making the transition to mentor or cooperating teacher

There are many resources to educate and evaluate the mentoring practices of teach-
ers, such as those available through the New Teacher Center,3 and schools and
teachers can readily see the area of overlap here; as institutions of higher education
send teacher candidates out to schools, those teachers who assume the role of coop-
erating or mentor teacher can receive further training to develop these particular
skills, rather than assuming that, simply by virtue of having taught, teachers can
work with other adults to learn the skills of teaching.

Assist teachers in how to conduct professional development for colleagues

Those teachers who take on the role of conducting professional development initia-
tives in their schools become de facto teacher leaders. As colleagues involved in
the professional development of their co-workers, these teacher leaders must walk a
fine line. Teachers can begin to learn the skills of working with adult learners while
still in their certification programmes, by being required to craft and deliver a pro-
fessional development session, and have it evaluated.

Develop induction programmes to provide teacher leaders with university support

The theory/practice divide is well known; by maintaining relationships with
graduates, institutions of higher education can be kept up-to-date with the needs of
teachers and also provide support to teachers in their induction period. For example,
teachers can attend summer institutes that continue with an online network so that
they can be supported in offering seminars during the school year, for instance at
the Center for Development of Teaching.4

Conclusion
Much like the way the term ‘professional development’ may be mistakenly inter-
preted as delivering a one-off workshop, the concept of ‘teacher leadership’ has
328 L. Baecher

been misinterpreted as a single, formally established role in the school. As the field
has begun to enumerate the range of roles that may be categorized as teacher lead-
ership (Harrison and Killion 2007), the understanding of professional development
has also expanded to include the needs not just of the audience, but of the leader of
this professional learning. Their symbiotic relationship can now be seen such that
one cannot exist independently of the other and thrive. As novice teachers enter the
workplace and are confronted with many leadership opportunities and demands,
their professional development needs will continue to expand. The literature has
shown that professional development is best done with and by the members of a
school, to ensure it is locally relevant, met with less resistance and sustainable –
rather than ‘delivered’ by outside parties who are unfamiliar with the context and
character of the setting and who will not stay on to problem-solve or maintain the
focus. By tapping into the energy and resources – and resourcefulness – of teachers
beginning their careers, and offering guidance into the activities of teacher leaders,
school administrators may begin to envision all the teachers in the school commu-
nity as potential in-house ‘professional developers’. Rather than looking only to
mid-career teachers to assume positions of leadership within a school, principals
may begin to consider tiered leadership development in ‘vertical teams’ (Cunning-
ham and Gresso 1993), which would involve newer teachers into ever-expanding
waves of professional learning communities.

Acknowledgements
The author would like to recognize the expertise and collegiality of Erin Collins, Marcus
Artigliere, David Patterson, Sarah Rorimer and Adrian Spatzer of the New York City
Department of Education for generously sharing their experiences as emerging teacher
leaders, as well as Ron Woo of Hunter College for his encouragement, insights, and shared
resources on teacher leadership.

Notes
1. See: http://www.teacherleaderstandards.org/.
2. See: http://www.bankstreet.edu/lpi/betla.html.
3. See: http://www.newteachercenter.org/index.php.
4. See: http://www2.edc.org/cdt/.

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Appendix 1. Questionnaire

(1) Would you consider yourself a teacher leader in your school? Explain why you
would or would not identify yourself this way.
(2) If you answered yes to question #1, Who asked you to assume this role? How
were you approached? How did you feel about taking on the role of professional
developer/team leader/etc.? What are the benefits and challenges of this role?
(3) In what ways have you worked with others in your building to access or utilize
student learning data?
(4) In what ways have you worked with administrators to provide professional devel-
opment to your colleagues? Were you asked to do specific PD’s? If so, what were
the topics and who was the audience?
(5) In what ways have you provided feedback to colleagues to strengthen teaching
practice or improve student learning? Have you been in the role of peer evaluator
or cooperating teacher?
(6) In what ways have you served as a mentor, coach, or content facilitator? What
types of projects were you asked to lead?
330 L. Baecher

(7) In what ways have you accessed resources and expertise both inside or outside
the school to support student achievement? Have you brought in outside
resources/partnerships? If so, please describe their nature.
(8) In what ways have you worked with colleagues to use assessment results to rec-
ommend potential changes in organizational practice to enhance student achieve-
ment?
(9) In what ways have you used knowledge of different backgrounds, cultures, or lan-
guages in the school community to promote effective interactions among colleagues,
families, and the larger community? Do you feel the ESL teacher has a unique role
as a teacher leader/or professional developer? Have you been able to/asked to take
on this role at your school?
(10) In what ways have you worked with colleagues to advocate for the rights/and or
needs of students, or represented the profession in contexts outside the classroom
(task forces, committees, professional associations)?