Empowerment through distributed leadership in reconciliating tensions and dilemmas in teacher professional development

ABSTRACT

Continuous professional development is necessary for teachers to stay current with teaching and learning. However, teachers face tensions when they engage in such activities. From the sociocultural and distributed leadership perspectives, this case study investigates how a school, recognised for its excellence in staff well-being and development, reconciles such tensions. The systematic and efficient school administration and distributed leadership empower teachers to plan and chart their own professional development activities. It is evident that teachers from the school are empowered via open communication with their respective teacher coordinators to plan and chart their professional development. Relevance and practical use of content of professional development are most important to teachers. More time and resources have been devoted for better quality training for teachers. There is also a shift towards network learning communities where teachers learn from one another within the school and across schools, although teachers still attend courses.

KEYWORDS:

• Professional development
• tensions
• distributed leadership

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the participating school and teachers for taking the time to participate in this research study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee. Nanyang Technological University, Institutional Review Board – IRB-2018-10-023.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore [grant number SUG 10/18 TLY].

Notes on contributors

Lee Yong Tay

Lee Yong Tay is a Teaching Fellow at the Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education. He was a primary school teacher for more than two decades prior to joining the above institute. He was conferred a Fellow of Academy of Singapore Teachers in 2012 and received the Singapore’s President Award for Teachers in 2015. His research interests are in the areas of ICT use in schools, teacher professional learning, and metacognition for teaching and learning. He received his PhD from Edith Cowan University, Western Australia.

Kalaivani Ramachandran

Kalaivani Ramachandran is a Research Assistant in Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is the author of Targeting Foundation Mathematics Primary 5 & 6 textbooks, workbooks (approved by the Ministry of Education, Singapore) and Teachers’ Guides. He has a degree in Statistics from the National University of Singapore. His interests are in research and data analysis.

Woei Ling Monica Ong

Woei Ling Monica Ong is a Teaching Fellow at the Office of Education Research, National Institute of Education, with 13 years of teaching experience in a local secondary school. She has engaged in research in the areas of teacher inquiry, professional learning communities and teacher reflective practice. Monica’s research interests include teacher inquiry, teacher learning, and research use and impact.

Phillip Alexander Towndrow

Phillip Alexander Towndrow is an experienced Senior Lecturer with a demonstrated history of working in research. His interests include new media literacies (especially digital storytelling), pedagogy and teachers’ professional learning. He is also skilled in academic advising, interpersonal skills, academic writing, online tutoring and workshops. He has a Doctor of Education from Durham University, UK.