Communities of Learning

Abstract

Many teachers love teaching and have no desire to leave their classrooms. These classroom- and student-loving teachers see themselves as educational leaders, even if the general public does not. This chapter illustrates that teachers do not have to give up the vision of themselves as leaders if they want to remain in their classroom. It focuses on preparing in-service teachers to become teacher leaders through cohort-based, constructivist-informed, and action research-centered programming in a master’s program. Action research becomes for teachers a strategy for leadership, ownership, and advocacy of the profession. Teachers are afforded the opportunity to become change agents in support of their students by walking the walk of a researcher. When conducting action research, teachers gain confidence while learning to think differently and act differently—feeling empowered as teacher leaders and researchers. We contend that through programs such as ours, good teachers can and will remain in the classroom, continuing to do what they love and what they are good at—teaching. We encourage other universities to consider implementing programming similar to ours, modeled as action research-focused professional development, to develop the next generation of teacher leaders who positively affect their classrooms, schools, and profession.