A leadership label for teachers in the field who are not designated formally by the school or district with a separate role outside of classroom teacher. Teacher leadership can be formal or informal and the teachers in this chapter highlight informal teacher leadership practices.
Published in Chapter:
Unwrapping the Shrink Wrap: Teacher Led Improvement in Writing Instruction
Sarah Vander Zanden (University of Northern Iowa, USA), Lois Berger (University of Northern Iowa, USA), Katie Simpson (Cedar Falls Public Schools, USA), Kristen Schrock (Cedar Falls Public Schools, USA), Erin Becker (Cedar Falls Public Schools, USA), Jenifer Dise (Cedar Falls Public Schools, USA), and Katie Taylor Clausen (Cedar Falls Public Schools, USA)
Copyright: © 2021
|Pages: 17
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-6500-1.ch010
Abstract
This chapter describes a team of teachers and university instructors' investigation of teacher-led instructional improvements in elementary classroom writing instruction through peer observation and collective dialogue examining everyday teaching practices. Established tools and processes in place such as district curriculum, the Units of Study, and tools of observation and collaboration, specifically Learning Labs (www.pebc.org) protocol and professional learning communities, supported a naturalistic inquiry of practice. Teacher leadership, like writing instruction, is a process, and these educators identified co-constructed observation as a tool for sustaining joy, an under researched element of teacher leadership and professional development. Additionally, collaborative debriefing fostered professional growth, and collective inquiry provided inroads to autonomy in curricular decision making. The team sought to lead from within to develop understanding of and improvements in writing instruction.