Claiming the Political: The Forgotten Terrain of Teacher Leadership Knowledge

Abstract

This article argues that leadership knowledge should be included in teacher education curricula. The authors discuss the political realities that affect teachers and how these realities are best met with teacher leadership knowledge. Failure to include ideas of educational leadership in teacher education denies teachers an understanding of the activities they practice daily. More important, knowledge of leadership would enable teachers to label what they see and do. Such knowledge would help teachers understand and navigate the micropolitical environments of their work and, therefore, make more informed actions to improve schooling for all and correct some of our democratic injustices as they relate to education more broadly. The article presents examples of three kinds of teacher leadership practices: managerial, professional development, and social responsibility. The authors conclude with proposed opportunities for the teaching profession to reclaim its pedagogical and curricular knowledge and to understand its own acts of leadership.

Notes

¹See, for example, the EEPA Special Issue on Education Leadership (Stein & Nelson, 2003).