Examining teacher leadership development from the perspective of identity : a multiple case study in Mainland China

Abstract

Research demonstrating the importance of teacher leadership on student academic performance, teacher professional development, and school change is now well established. Existing studies have addressed, to some extent, what teachers understand and act in exerting leadership and why particular teachers emerge as teacher leaders by investigating the directly observed perceptions and practices of teacher leadership and its factors and pathways. However, little is known about the process of teacher leadership development throughout their careers. Identity has been shown to provide an inner perspective to understand the complex and dynamic process of teacher leadership development. Using identity as a lens, this study delved into how teachers develop as teacher leaders across their career span. In particular, it aimed to explore the changes and mechanisms that occurred in the process of teacher leadership development by examining teachers’ leadership experiences. A multiple case study was conducted with eight teachers at different career stages in two primary schools in mainland China. Data were collected through narrative-style semi-structured interviews, storylines, non-participant observations and documents. The study revealed that the process of teacher leadership development is multi-level (i.e., individual, relational and collective) and dynamic in nature. At the individual level, changes in teacher leadership development were reflected in two aspects – teacher leadership perceptions and teacher leadership practices. The mechanism of teacher leadership development at this level was manifested as a process of acquiring a leader role through the dynamic interaction between the changes in the perceptions and practices of teacher leadership, revealing three different patterns – perception-driven, bumpy, and practice-driven. At the relational level, changes in teacher leadership development were demonstrated by the ways teachers interact with significant others. The mechanism of teacher leadership development at this level was found as a process of positioning and negotiation through the dynamic interaction between leadership identity balance and leadership identity conflict. In this process, participants exhibited two strategies – leading by strengths and leading by sharing – to construct and maintain their leadership identities. At the collective level, changes in teacher leadership development displayed two shifts, including a shift from the independent “I” to the collective “We”, and a tendency of showing and being recognised as a representative of the collective. The mechanism of teacher leadership development at this level was considered to be a process of collective endorsement through the dynamic interaction between leadership personalisation (i.e., leader-as-individual, related to “who am I as a leader”) and leadership contextualisation (i.e., leader-in-community, related to “what does leading mean to us”). Furthermore, the three levels of teacher leadership development dynamically interacted, with recognising the relational interdependence as the intersection of teacher leadership development from the individual level to relational level and seeking a larger leadership purpose as the intersection of teacher leadership development from the individual and relational level to the collective level. This study theoretically contributes to extend the current understanding of teacher leadership development by proposing an identity-based teacher leadership development framework. Practical implications are also provided for policymakers and stakeholders to facilitate teacher leadership development.