The Potential of Communities of Practice as Contexts for the Development of Agentic Teacher Leaders: A Three-Year Narrative of One Early Childhood Teacher's Journey

Abstract

In this article, the authors use an explanatory narrative of participation and transformation across two consecutive early childhood communities of practice to chronicle the evolution of a teacher leader, Michelle. This narrative illustrates how the continuity of experience spawned her development from apprentice toward an agentic teacher leader, characterized by an ethical ideal, disposition of lifelong learner, and participation in joint endeavors. Through blog excerpts, interviews, journal reflections, and meeting dialogues, the authors reveal how Michelle constructed and reconstructed her leadership roles through individual and collective inquiry grounded in daily practices. Through this process, Michelle strived to help others reach their truths about teaching and learning while concurrently developing her own. Implications for future research include investigating what conditions influence teachers’ abilities to emerge as leaders who, through navigating diverse collaborative contexts, form new knowledge about themselves in relation to others.