Abstract
Strategic documents on education emphasize learning leadership, discuss teachers’ activities related to continuous personal improvement in professional activities: by involvement in improvement of school activities, conducting research, participating in specialized group activities, projects, collaboration with colleagues, etc. Innovative trends of teachers’ professional development are the basis for the development of efficient leadership: a challenge promoting to introduce changes in teachers’ improvement by creating new conditions and possibilities for both teachers and school leaders. It is important for school leaders to ensure coherence between personal and institutional development needs, to create flexible structures while organizing support for teachers and promoting fostering of continuous learning culture in the organization. The research aim is to analyze experiences of heads of departments with regard to teachers’ personal professional development possibilities in their professional activities. The results disclose that teachers ambiguously assess the activity of the head of the department: concrete, individual support, attention, encouragement are emphasised but teachers are against observation and assessment of their activities. This is related to several reasons: teachers’ attitude towards change processes, innovations in teachers’ professional development, competencies of heads of education departments, and general school culture. It is important to create conditions for manifestation of teacher leadership in schools, creating conditions for every teacher to continuously improve the educational process, develop personal competencies, actively and responsibly participate in group activities, get involved in school improvement processes. Middle level leaders, heads of departments, acting as mediators while implementing individual, group and organizational level tasks, promote the development of teachers’ competencies.
Highlights
European and Lithuanian strategic documents on education emphasise learning leadership, discuss teachers’ activities related to continuous personal improvement in professional activities: involvement in the improvement of school activities conducting research, participating in specialised group activities, projects, collaborating with colleagues, etc
Having processed the data obtained during the interviews using the content analysis method, the trends of teachers’ personal professional development were distinguished, experiences of schools promoting teachers to evaluate themselves and plan their improvement were summarised, potential activities of heads of departments motivating teachers to improve were highlighted, and problems related to professional development of teachers and heads of departments were emphasised
In order to achieve personal professional development, the teacher can concentrate on the development of specific competencies that he/ she needs, enhancement of abilities, choose forms and ways of self-education, combining existing experience with relevant new information: “When the teacher honestly reflects on his activities during the academic year, truly names his success areas and what needs improvement and what he wants to improve, it is very good: I can very purposefully offer sources or some training (V2)”; “The aims of school activities are related to novelties in education in Lithuania, and, according to them, we offer teachers to develop their existing experience (V8).”
Summary
European and Lithuanian strategic documents on education emphasise learning leadership, discuss teachers’ activities related to continuous personal improvement in professional activities: involvement in the improvement of school activities conducting research, participating in specialised group activities, projects, collaborating with colleagues, etc. Seeking efficient work of the head of the department, these problems would need to be solved in the ways most appropriate for the school: by reviewing activities of heads of all levels and sharing certain functions so that middle-level leaders have more possibilities to communicate with teachers and pupils, to organise and coordinate work of the department more purposefully; perhaps paying more attention to employees’ general culture and enhancement of collaboration promoting to help each other, take initiative, make decisions; possibly learning time management and developing planning skills or developing communication and conflict resolution skills and the like Another problem is showing up as well – its solution could be a prerequisite to review the head’s activities, creating more conditions for him/ her to work directly with teachers. Middlelevel leaders, being closest to their employees, create conditions for unfolding of teachers’ creative potential and development of leadership abilities, seeking every pupil’s progress
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