A social network study of transformational teacher influence

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research was to explore the construct of teacher influence and consider it in the context of transformational leadership. Furthermore, it also investigates how to more broadly define teacher leadership liberating it from its reliance on specific district/school-assigned roles to include the belief that all teachers are capable of leadership. The implications of these findings suggest that we can potentially build social capital in an organization by deliberately labeling these qualities and coaching teachers in a theory of leadership with a robust research base developing teacher leadership capacity; a critical element of successful reform.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher leadership
• teacher influence
• social network theory
• transformational leadership

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Deborah Shea

Deborah Shea Subsequent to a career at the building and district level, Dr. Shea has been a professor of doctoral educational leadership students and is now Program Director of the Educational Leadership Program at The College of St. Rose, Albany, NY.

Daniel S. Alemu

Daniel S. Alemu has been an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the Sage Colleges in Albany/Troy, NY, where he is also the Director of Research of the Educational Leadership Doctoral Program.

M. Jacqueline Visser

M. Jacqueline Visser is a career educator, invited to be the Program Director for the Educational Leadership Program at Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY. She also serves in the capacity of literacy instructor.