ABSTRACT Teacher leaders at the system level are recognised to have the potential to promote teacher professional learning for systemic change. This study focuses on a special type of system-level teacher leader in China, i.e. teaching research officers (TROs, jiaoyanyuan), subject experts who facilitate teacher professional learning at the system level. Drawing on interviews with 19 district-level TROs from Zhejiang Province, the study qualitatively illustrates their leadership practices in leading and sustaining teacher professional learning for teaching improvement. The findings revealed that system-level leaders in China adopted six major leadership strategies, suggesting a hybrid construct of teacher leadership for promoting teacher professional learning. While challenging the paradoxical and segmental view of teacher leadership enactment in the Western context, the study reflects on the impact of TROs on teacher professionalism in China.
Read full abstract