Building teacher leadership capacity in schools in Kazakhstan: a mixed method study

ABSTRACT

The mobilization of teacher leadership, simultaneous decentralization of power, and centralization of support for teacher-led initiatives is seen as important to educational improvement in post-Soviet Kazakhstan where hierarchical cultures and structures still prevail. The current study reports on results from the Teacher Leadership in Kazakhstan (TLK) initiative, which was based on the internationally recognized Teacher-led development work strategy that enabled teachers to lead individual development projects throughout one academic school year. The TLK initiative involved 16 principals, 32 school-based facilitators, and 150 teachers. Using a mixed-methods design, research for the initiative was conducted over one academic year and collected a wide range of data through questionnaire surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Analysis using structural equation modeling suggested that improved teacher program experience resulted in enhanced teacher leadership capacity, and that teachers from more collaborative school cultures enjoy more impactful initiatives. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups provide further insights into these findings. Implications for policy and practice and future directions are also discussed.

Note

1. The content of this publication reflects the views of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of Community Education Foundation “School for All” and Soros Foundation -Kazakhstan.

Acknowledgments

We would like to extend our gratitude to Dr David Frost and Sheila Ball from HertsCam Network , UK; Saule Kalikova and Ainur Shakenova from Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan; Gulbadan Zakayeva from the Community Educational Foundation “School for All„, Kazakhstan for their support throughout the research process. We would also like to thank Drs David Frost and Mehmet Karakus for their suggestions on a previous version of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Community Educational Foundation ‘School for All’ and Soros Foundation - Kazakhstan, Almaty, Kazakhstan, No. 107.01.00

Notes on contributors

Gulmira Qanay

Gulmira Qanay is a postdoctoral scholar at the Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education (NUGSE).  She is an alumna of “Talap„ and “Bolashak„ international scholarships. She has obtained PhD in Education at the Faculty of Education University of Cambridge (UK) and MA in Educational Leadership and Management at the Institute of Education University of Warwick (UK). Dr Qanay's current research interests include leadership, financing and social justice issues in schools in Kazakhstan. Dr Qanay is also actively promoting the university - school partnerships and providing support to school-based professional learning in Kazakhstan.

Matthew Courtney

Matthew Courtney is an educational research specialist from New Zealand currently working as an assistant professor at NUGSE in Kazakhstan. He completed his PhD in Education in 2015 from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Since then, he has worked as a research fellow in both New Zealand and Australian universities though now resides with his family in Kazakhstan. Dr Courtney's areas of thematic interest include student assessment, higher education, youth/adult program evaluation, educational measurement and statistics, and R Markdown and R Shiny applications. Dr Courtney enjoys applying various statistical models to educational data for the purpose of gaining insights, building theory, and informing policy and practice in both the developed and developing world.

Alexandra Nam

Alexandra Nam is a research assistant at NUGSE. She completed her MA in Multilingual Education in 2018 from Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan, and since 2019 she has been providing assistance to several research projects. Alexandra Nam is currently assisting in the projects “Teacher Leadership in Kazakhstan„ and “Building capacity for teaching and research in STEM teacher education in Kazakhstan: A research-practice partnership„. Her research interests include identity and gender. During her Master's study, as part of her research project, she conducted small scale research on “National identity and medium of instruction„.