What is Teacher Leadership & Why It Is Important?

Teacher leadership is a broad and dynamic concept that can be used to describe many different things. But at its heart, it’s all about giving teachers the space, time, and support necessary to improve their practice. It’s about supporting teachers’ professional growth as they create and implement new lesson plans that address social justice and equity issues in the classroom. Teacher leadership is important to leading a classroom.

It’s about empowering them to share what they know with their colleagues who may not have had access to those same opportunities in order to raise the overall quality of teaching in a school or district. And ultimately, it can lead to improved student outcomes because the whole system is working together for universal change.

Teacher leaders are strong, passionate, and compassionate people who are willing to make personal sacrifices in order to take on the challenging role of teacher leadership. They’re not there for the money or fame (although they’re often both). 

They view their work as an opportunity not just to make an impact on their students and a community but also to give back to those communities in ways that will change the lives of their students for generations.

But perhaps more importantly than all that, teachers and leaders are committed to the idea that all children should have access to a quality education regardless of where they live, what language they speak at home, how much money their parents make, and so on.

Teacher leadership is a broad and dynamic concept that can be used to describe many different things. But at its heart, it’s all about giving teachers the space, time, and support necessary to improve their practice. It’s about supporting teachers’ professional growth as they create and implement new lesson plans that address social justice and equity issues in the classroom. 

It’s about empowering them to share what they know with their colleagues who may not have had access to those same opportunities in order to raise the overall quality of teaching in a school or district. And ultimately, it can lead to improved student outcomes because the whole system is working together for universal change.

6 Reasons Why Teacher Leadership is Important

1. A more comprehensive approach to teaching and learning

Teacher leadership is about creating and implementing new ideas, as well as helping others do so. Through collaboration, teachers can develop a more comprehensive approach to teaching that involves the whole community and allows for students’ needs to be met in local, socially-relevant ways.

2. Teachers take ownership of their professional development

When teachers have the space, time, and support necessary to improve their practice, they are able to develop their own professional growth plans instead of having them dictated by someone else. This means that their vision of the future of teaching and learning is their own, and they are able to implement it on their own.

3. A focus on social justice and equity in the classroom

Teacher leadership is about creating a socially-relevant curriculum for all students, regardless of their backgrounds or socioeconomic status. Through examining society’s current problems in your community, you can develop plans to address them in your classroom – which will likely involve using language that speaks directly to those issues.

For example, you can create social action projects such as a community garden or an after-school program that focuses on food security, health awareness campaigns that involve responding to local crises (such as an eviction notice), and so forth.

4. Shared leadership and professionalism within the school or district

When teachers have strong relationships with their colleagues and feel supported by their administrators, it makes others more willing to work with them as partners on a collaborative team and as equals in terms of professional respect. This can lead to a culture that supports collaboration and taking more ownership of the daily learning process in schools.

5. Student achievement

When teachers have a much stronger role in the running of the school, they take more ownership over student success – which can lead to better outcomes. Research has shown that when teachers feel empowered, respected, and connected within their schools, they are able to work together to get students where they need to be in academics.

6. Improved retention and recruitment

Teacher leadership is also a way to improve retention rates, as well as recruitment and attraction. It’s important to have a diverse group of teachers in the classroom, and a teacher leader is one who can work with other teachers to identify ways that he or she can bring in new talent. 

They are also ones who will seek out other people who can make an impact on their students’ lives – including parents and community members – so that they feel connected to the school community.

The Final Word

Just as teacher leadership is a broad concept, there are many ways to put it into action. It’s important to figure out what works best for your school or district and to decide together with your colleagues on a solution that will help you meet all of your teaching and learning goals, as well as the goals of all stakeholders involved.

There is no one type of teacher leader, but they all have strong relationships with the rest of their schools’ staff and students. And they all have a unique role to play in creating positive change within their communities.If you want to build leadership  as a teacher, get onto platforms like Classplus that help you lead with the help of your own app and grow digitally.