Understanding Teacher Leadership in Educational Change

Peng Liu is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba, Canada. He serves as an editor for the International Journal of Educational Policy and Leadership. His edited book, Educational Leadership and Asian Culture: Culturally Sensitive Leadership Practices was published by Routledge in 2024.Lei Mee Thien serves as the Director of the National Higher Education Research Institute (IPPTN) and is an Associate Professor at the School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Her expertise lies in educational management and leadership. She has authored numerous publications in refereed journals and books.

Professor Kenneth LeithwoodUniversity of Toronto, CanadaThe 12 chapters in this book offer rich, evidence-informed perspectives on the meaning and manifestation of teacher leadership across a wide array of international contexts. The book should be required reading for anyone with school improvement aspirations.Professor Yin Cheong ChengThe Education University of Hong Kong“Responding to impacts of increasing global and local challenges such as technological advances, economic transformations, paradigm shifts in education, and social demands for developments, the expected roles and functions of teachers have been largely expanded and changed in the past decades. But, unfortunately how teacher leadership can contribute to school functioning, professional practices, policy formulation and educational research is still a hot controversial issue to teachers, leaders and researchers. This timely book is one of the very few worldwide publications which can fill the existing knowledge gaps in the areas of teacher leadership and management, with multiple approaches and comprehensive international perspectives. Congratulations to the editors and authors.”Professor Pamela AngelleThe University of Tennessee, KnoxvilleTeacher leadership has emerged in recent literature as a critical component in bringing about school reform in educational institutions throughout the world. Whether formal or informal, at the micro level or the macro level, the influence and knowledge of teacher leaders are increasingly placed as significant to school success. Peng Liu and Lei Mee Thien have assembled an array of international perspectives of teacher leadership, including systemic, programmatic, and individual roles, to offer an all-encompassing look at teacher leadership. For scholars of school change, school improvement, and systemic reform, as well as teacher leadership, this book will be one that is turned to again and again.

• 1 Introduction Peng Liu and Lei Mee Thien Section 1: Foundational and Developmental Aspects of Teacher Leadership 2 Teacher Leadership in a Time of Inclusion, Innovation and Collaboration Andy Hargreaves 3 Developing Teacher Leaders: Leadership Demands on Four Early Career Teachers David Gurr, Ari Gurr, Zoe Gurr, Ben Jarni, and Estelle Major 4 Understanding Instruments Measuring Teacher Leadership: A Review Siche Feng, Jianping Shen, Huang Wu, and Patricia Reeves Section 2: Systemic and Organisational Perspectives 5 Teacher Leaders’ and School Administrators’ Interconnecting Activity Systems: A Source of System Improvement Barbara Brown and Sharon Friesen 6 The Role of Alignment in Teacher Leaders’ System Improvement Work Henning Fjørtoft 7 Configuring Teacher Leadership in School-wide Reform: A Social Network Approach Yi-Hwa Liou Section 3: Roles and contextual dynamic 8 The Work of Head of Department as a Middle Leader in Secondary Schools in Chile Carmen Montecinos 9 Understanding the Roles of Principals in Facilitating Teacher Leadership: a Case Study of a Turkish Secondary School Nedim Özdemir and Ali Çağatay Kılınç 10 Exploring Graduate Programming in Alberta, Canada through the Lens of Teacher Leadership Shelleyann Scott and Donald E. Scott 11 Teacher leadership and Professional Learning Communities in Rural Chinese Primary Schools: An Importance-Performance Map Analysis Lei Mee Thien and Shuo Wang 12 Understanding Teacher Leadership Behavioral Competencies in Turnaround Schools: A Malaysian Study Peng Liu and Lei Mee Thien 13 Teacher Leadership and Educational Change: Evidence from China, Malaysia, and Philippines Tony Bush and Nan Jiang 14 Conclusion Peng Liu and Lei Mee Thien