Understanding the process of teacher leadership identity development

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study seeks to better understand the process by which secondary STEM teachers begin to see themselves as teacher leaders after participating in a 7-year professional development program. Twenty experienced teachers from different rural schools in a Southeastern state of the United States participated in a rigorous curriculum aimed at increasing their professional skills and capacity as educational leaders. Viewed through the lens of the Community of Practice Teacher Leadership Model, a qualitative analysis of teacher interviews provides evidence of the mechanisms involved in the participants’ professional growth. We found that recognition of the teachers’ leadership competencies performed within this long-term community of practice drove the cycle of teacher leader identity development. Implications of these findings include insight as to how this change in identity can be influenced, as well as identifying important connections between some existing frameworks describing the development of teacher leadership identity.