Distributed leadership

Distributed leadership: a teacher's perspective by Kip Glazer Teacher - Independence High School, Kern High School District Doctoral Student – Pepperdine University / Learning Technologies According to a National Education Association study, nearly 50 % of K-12 teachers in the United States leave the profession within the first five years, costing nearly 7 billion dollars a year to all stake holders. A leading cause of teacher attrition is the lack of growth opportunities provided by administrators (Kersaint, Lewis, Potter, & Meisels, 2007). Conversely, numerous studies have shown that empowering teachers to take informal leadership yields numerous benefits (Margolis, 2008; Margolis & Deuel, 2009; Roby, 2011). Rather than working to adhere to a strict distributed leadership model focusing on developing teacher leaders to become school managers, schools should create an ecosystem to cultivate parallel leadership among teachers that can eventually induct various teacher leaders into what Lave and Wenger (1991) called a “community of practice” (p.29). Challenges of fostering teacher leadership Limited Career Advancement Opportunities Skilled classroom teachers at their mid-career point looking to advance within the profession face a limited availability of career advancement opportunities. Many avoid leadership responsibilities due to the stress and excessive time commitment of becoming a school administrator (Hewitt, Denny, & Pijanowski, 2011). Furthermore, when an experienced classroom teacher with a particular set of skills is mismatched with a school leadership position, the Peter Principle can cause harm to both the candidate and the institution (Lazear, 2004). Teacher Self-Perception Another barrier to teacher leadership development is a limited self-perception (Barth, 2007). Many do not consider themselves to be leaders and avoid opportunities to share their expertise since they often experience the harshest criticism and resistance from their closest colleagues (Katzenmeyer & Moller, 2001). However, teachers who do not wish to assume formal leadership roles have often assumed peripheral curriculum leadership. Teachers do not often receive nor wish to receive management training due to their identification as educators rather than managers (Birky, Shelton, & Headley, 2006). Fostering distributed leadership Offer leadership opportunities in the area of technology One way to cultivate teacher leadership is to center leader development on specific projects that rely on teachers’ knowledge and pedagogical specialties. Rather than forcing teachers to focus on the administration track, districts and administrators should provide an alternate path of gradual teacher leadership development for all teachers. The adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) provides one such opportunity to foster distributed leadership centered on specialized skills. The heavy emphasis on technology of the CCSS has necessitated teachers collaborating beyond conventional venues. The urgency for expedited acquisition of technical skills has given additional motivations for administrators to utilize informal school leaders with specific technical skills (Kotter, 2012), creating a perfect condition for a new era of distributed leadership. Teachers with technical skills can become partners with administrators who need to implement technology requirements for CCSS adoption. Site administrators can encourage leadership development by offering teachers opportunities to share their technical knowledge with staff. Peer-led technology-focused professional development will be better embraced by the staff since teachers are allowed to focus on relevant content targeted at the specific needs of the individual school site (Pitsoe & Maila, 2012). Furthermore, on-campus technology leaders can provide on-going training and support crucial to successful professional development, making this an attractive option for both the administrators looking to implement distributed leadership and the teachers seeking growth opportunities. Such structural support will foster what Lieberman and Mace (2010) call “Grow your own professional development” (p.86), offering teachers additional venues to develop their instructional leadership skills. To transfer this experience into tangible leadership development opportunities, however, the administrators must be willing to partner with teachers leaders in purchasing decisions. By being a part of the budgetary decision making processes, teachers can exercise leadership responsibilities that are often not afforded to them until they become school administrators. Make their contribution visible using technology tools However, the local focus should not limit the teacher leaders to simply offering on-site professional development. Administrators can provide technical infrastructure to feature teacher leaders’ accomplishments beyond the school building. If the proliferation of teacher-created social media is any indication, teachers thrive on being validated for their educational expertise (Birky et al., 2006; Margolis & Deuel, 2009; Lieberman & Mace, 2010). By featuring their scholarly excellence on school websites or district publications, administrators can provide much needed validation and support for teacher leaders. Administrators can easily accomplish this by using commercial social networking products such as Facebook or Twitter. By making the teacher leaders accomplishments public, administrators can affirm teacher contributions (Lieberman & Mace, 2010). Conclusion Successful distributed leadership practices encompass strong administrative support on teacher effort to achieve a specified goal (Mascall, 2007). With the new era of the CCSS, teachers can seize additional opportunities to become leaders in educational technology. Teacher leaders are often willing to excel for the minimal reward of respect from their colleagues and recognition of their contributions (Margolis & Deuel, 2009). Therefore, administrators should consider creating opportunities for teacher leaders using technology. References Barth, R. S. (2007). The teacher leader. In R. H. Ackerman, & S. V. Mackenzie (Eds.), Uncovering teacher leadership: essays and voices from the field (pp. 9-36). Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press. Birky, V. D., Shelton, M., & Headley, S. (2006, June). An administrator’s challenge: encouraging teachers to be leaders. 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