CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background

As a kid I always wanted to become a teacher. I enjoyed schooling and was largely

influenced by my teachers. While educating myself on different educational approaches I came

to know about the concept of developing teacher leaders and its positive outcomes. This concept

has been staying in my mind for quite a long now, therefore, I have decided to conduct this study

to learn about the practices of a school principal in developing teacher leaders in their school.

Wenner & Campbell (2017), explain teacher leadership to be a concept where the role of

teachers is supposed to be greater than only classroom teaching and its preparation. As teacher

leaders, the teachers in a school should be able to participate in decision making of the school

and work towards adopting mechanisms that enhance the learning of the students.

Moreover, York-Barr & Duke (2004), add that, the notion of teacher leaders has become

popular since 1984. The need of teachers was felt even at the administrative end of a school.

Thus, to cater to the instructional as well as administrative needs of a school, teacher leaders

need to be developed so that; the teachers become more professional, improved instructions and

students learning, and support the school administrators in decision making and/or policy

making.

According to Berry, Johnson, & Montgomery (2005), schools that have teacher leaders

have better capacity because; teacher leaders innovate and work creatively, relationship among

teachers strengthen as they work collaboratively and share knowledge and skills, and the teachers

will be exposed to trainings and professional development activities.

 According to Frost & Harris (2003), teacher leadership is also a process of giving equal

power to the teachers to adopt good practices and take on new/innovative initiatives on their own

to improve the school. The main idea of teacher leadership is that all the teachers feel they are

treated equally and empowered so that they also support the school principal in school

development rather than only limiting themselves to the set of duties assigned.

Teacher leadership in context to Nepal is a newer concept. Even in Kathmandu the

capital city of Nepal, where there are many schools, and some of the famous school have been

operating for over half a decade, such schools too need reform and extra insights regarding

newer trends in the educational sector (Carney & Bista, 2009). In Nepali context the school

principal is largely burdened with the role of teaching as well as administration and management

(Sen, 2012). Thus through this research, I want to learn what a principal running a profitable

school in Kathmandu is doing to turn the teachers to leaders. I believe through this research I will

be clear on the existing practices of a school leader(s) in empowering and developing the

teachers of their school.

Problem Statement

The study intends to determine the current practices/approaches a school leader of a

school that is highly profitable and has over 800 students and 35 teachers doing to develop the

teachers to leaders in the school.

Since last fifty years, teacher leadership has been considered to be a significant issue for

any school's advancement, particularly in the prime job of a school, i.e. teaching and learning

(Wills, 2015). Teacher leadership is such an idea that largely helps the schools in getting more

organized and enables teachers to adopt instructional methods that promote the reasoning

capacity of students (Danielson, 2006).

 When teachers become teacher leaders it is witnessed that the school is greatly benefited

because, teachers' get motivated as their level of personal satisfaction increases (Crowther,

Ferguson, & Hann, 2009). Further, not to forget, all teachers are different, some have the

leadership skills in them, and for some they need to be guided to develop the leadership skills in

them. Whatever maybe the instance, it is very important for the leader of the school to engage in

developing teacher leaders (Campbell, Lieberman, & Yashkina, 2013).

Initially the focus of the government stakeholders and school leaders used to be largely

centered on providing trainings to the teachers for their development, but these days the focus

has shifted to the need for professionally developing the teachers via: trainings and mentoring,

facilitating the teachers to attain higher education from credible university, helping them get

familiar with different useful technologies, develop leadership skills, and involving in various

research activities (MoE, Nepal, 2016).

The Government of Nepal's, motive of professionally developing teachers is a positive

step but yet the results are not satisfactory, both in public and private schools. According to

Shrestha (2008), the issues that are limiting the development of teachers in schools despite of

policy and provisions are: (a) teachers professional development plan seems to be less applicable

and out of context in relation to the present situation, (b) in public schools, usually the teachers

have strong affiliation with political leaders that enables them in getting promoted easily, thus

making them less motivated to work in the school, (c) in case of private schools, the teachers are

overburdened with responsibilities that limits their opportunity to be creative and work for their

development, (d) prevalent culture that prioritizes personal interests over organization's

wellbeing, (e) complex bureaucratic process, and many such others.

 Clearly in context of Nepal and specifically Kathmandu, there are rare examples of

schools talking about this concept of developing teacher leaders formally and systematically

(Thapa, 2011). In Nepal's context this is a very novel concept that many are still not familiar with

(Shrestha, 2008). Moreover, Kathmandu being a place where schools are rapidly increasing

(Craig, 2013) and there is a strong competition in order to sustain in the market, it is very

important for schools to get aware of the newer concepts and trends in education that will help

them enhance their quality and give them a competitive advantage.

Curiosity in this issue and studying on it can be considered as a step towards making this

useful concept more prominent in a place like Kathmandu which can also be considered as an

educational hub of the nation. This study will contribute in familiarizing the practices of how

teacher leaders are developed in schools and provide insights on what can be done by schools

here to promote teacher leadership.

Purpose of the Research

According to Ohio Department of Education (2017), the five components of teacher

leadership practiced by school leaders are: encouraging collaboration, increment in students'

learning outcomes, initiating innovation and improvement, practicing fairness, and partnering

with all stakeholders for better performance of the school. This study aims to explore how a

school principal in Kathmandu is practicing all these five components of teacher leadership.

Research Questions

The research questions that has guided this study are:

a. How is the school principal practicing the following issues in school?

i. Encouraging collaboration among teachers

ii. Supports and works with the teachers to increase the students' learning outcomes
 iii. Encourages teachers to initiate innovation and improvement

iv. Practicing fairness

v. Partnering with all stakeholders for better performance of the school

b. To what extent are the teachers and school principal aware of the concept of teacher

leadership?

Significance of the Study

This study can be of significance to present teachers, aspiring teachers, school leaders,

school governing bodies, and policy makers. This is because as aforementioned the concept of

teacher leadership is a new and advantageous issue of concern for professionals associated with

governing a school, running a school, and working in a school that helps in upgrading the

existing school practices and its educational standards.

Delimitations

This study has aimed to study only five components of teacher leadership mentioned in

the teacher leadership framework developed by Ohio Department of Education in 2017. Also, the

scope of the study will be limited to one school selected. [Variables, Statistical analysis,

Methodology can be included once you know what it is and you complete writing these sections]