Teachers grappling with a teacher-leader identity: complexities and tensions in early childhood education

ABSTRACT

The notion of a dual teacher-leader identity in education is elusive. This article builds on existing research by reporting a qualitative, interpretive case study. The study explored the perspectives of 16 early childhood teachers with and without leadership positions regarding their own leadership practice and leader identity, and 10 parents about the leadership activity of their children’s teachers. Data were generated through interviews, focus groups, and observations of teaching practice, and analyzed using a leadership-as-practice perspective. Two findings underpin this paper. Several of the teachers and parents understood leadership in relation to the teacher self as an accessible, everyday identity and practice. Yet, some of the teachers struggled to articulate a teacher-leader identity. This paper illuminates complexities and tensions associated with teachers navigating a teacher-leader identity in the context of team-based settings. It argues that for teachers to realize their potential as formal or informal teacher-leaders, they need support to grapple with a dual teacher-leader identity. This support includes opportunities to engage in critical dialogs that: challenge traditional ideas of leadership as positional power over others; encourage a reflective and affective reframing of their teacher-leader identity; and introduce alternative possibilities of leadership that resonate with teachers’ collaborative work with others.

Acknowledgments

This study was approved by the University of Auckland’s Human Participants Ethics Committee (ref: 013426/2015).

Disclosure Statement

I confirm there are no potential conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maria Cooper

Maria Cooper is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland. Her research focuses on teachers’ collective leadership, early years curriculum and qualitative methodologies related to research on early childhood education.