A community of practice model as a theoretical perspective for teacher leadership

ABSTRACT

Comprehensive reviews of empirical research on teacher leadership have revealed that this body of research remains grounded in what might be described as, at best, a weak theoretical base. This article seeks to address this by proposing a theoretical framework based on social learning theory, communities of practice, and identity and iterated through the examination of a small group of teacher leaders. In the end, we believe our proposed theoretical model serves as an important first step that will allow the field to move away from a list of things that teacher leaders ‘do’ to context-specific work that has meaning due to communities and their pursuits, and provides a means by which we could observe the development of teacher leader identity over time.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher leadership
• social learning theory
• communities of practice
• identity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. It should be noted that science assessment data was used, instead of math or ELA data, since this data was readily available to us in connection to previous research collaborations.

Additional information

Funding

This article is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under NSF Grant #1119349. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Notes on contributors

Todd Campbell

Todd Campbell is a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. Among other foci, his research focuses on teacher leaders and the role they might play in transforming schools to be more equitable spaces of transformative participation, especially in STEM contexts.

Julianne A. Wenner

Julianne A. Wenner is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies at Boise State University. Her research focuses on elementary science teacher education, teacher leadership, and qualitative methodologies related to school-based research.

Latanya Brandon

Latanya Brandon is a doctoral student in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. Her research focuses on the role teacher leaders might play in supporting more equitable and accessible forms of participation in STEM.

Molly Waszkelewicz

Molly Waszkelewicz is a graduate student in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. She is a veteran elementary teacher with an interest in teacher leaders and STEM education.