Tensions for Teacher Leaders: Insights from Document Analysis in Alberta, Canada

Abstract

As part of the International Study of Teacher Leadership ( www.mru.ca/istl ), a document analysis was conducted to determine how teacher leadership is represented in the official documentation of key educational stakeholders in Alberta, Canada. Six themes emerged from the researchers’ document analysisDocument analyses: foundational understandingsFoundational understandings, student diversityStudent diversity, twenty-first-century competenciesCompetencies, innovative curriculumInnovative curricula and student engagementEngagement, community engagementCommunity engagement, and reflectionReflection and professional learningProfessional learning. Analysis of the idealized themes resulted in the identification of issues that may challengeChallenges teacher leaders. For example, professional tensionsProfessional Tensions may emerge between teacher leaders seeking to implement innovative pedagogies and parentsParents and colleagues with conflicting expectations. Cultivating citizenship skills in a contextContexts of ambiguity, rapid change, and diversityDiversity may be complicated by alienation among community members and political leaders who themselves struggle with changing social, political, and environmental forces. It is unlikely that teacher leaders could demonstrate competence in every theme area. Teacher leaders must necessarily prioritize some professional commitmentsCommitments to work sustainably. Several considerations were derived from the inherent tensionsTensions. The considerations were used to derive a composite profile of teacher leaders with the capacity to serve, influenceInfluences, and thrive as teacher leaders.