Leading up to our November 9 event, Edcamp Baltimore organizers hope to share the voices of different edcamp stakeholders through our blog. These voices might be reflections on edcamp experiences or diving into discussion topics that might transfer into a session on the day of the event.
Special thanks to Christopher Wooleyhand, Ph.D (@principal64) who volunteered his blog post about teacher-led schools, also published on his blog. The original post can be found here. Interested in contributing? Contact us.
Are Teacher-Led Schools Viable?
The October edition of Educational Leadership focused on leveraging teacher leadership. This is a topic near and dear to my heart. I am convinced that growing teacher leadership is the key to raising the level of instruction in our nation’s schools. I also believe that principals are responsible for making this happen. I was, therefore, intrigued with Lori Nazareno’s article titled, Portrait of a Teacher-Led School.
In her article, Nazareno describes the teacher-led school she opened in Denver, Colorado. According to her, “(they) have consciously created an environment that requires all teachers to lead in a climate in which everyone owns student learning.” The school reports that is uses teacher teams as well as peer observation and evaluation to guide instruction.
The article gives a balanced view of the innovation that can be fostered in a teacher-led school, while also outlining the challenges of leadership in a “flat” organization. Nazareno isn’t suggesting that all schools can make do without a principal.
New ideas in teaching and school leadership are needed and should be welcomed. If a teacher-led school model fosters increased academic achievement, then we should embrace it. Nazareno, however, doesn’t offer any data to tout her school’s success. It would be interesting to see a longitudinal study conducted on the efficacy of teacher-led schools. Of course, there is more to a school’s success than student performance data.
After reading the article, I still feel strongly that teacher leadership should be able to thrive regardless of whether a school is led by a principal or by a lead-teacher. In fact, a strong, collaborative principal can foster a level of leadership that empowers teachers to make the same instructional decisions that are made in teacher-led schools. Principals are also skilled at protecting teachers from administrative tasks that can sidetrack their instructional focus.
Frankly, the concept of teacher-led schools also makes me a little sad. Has the state of education reached such a low point that principals are now seen as obstacles to the learning process? I also find it a little ironic that when you visit the website for Nazareno’s school*, the Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy, they list a principal and a lead teacher as staff members. This would suggest that maybe the packaging was changed, but the contents are the same.
Perhaps the biggest contribution of the teacher-led movement is that the term lead-learner has become popular. If a principal sees himself or herself as the lead learner, then it won’t matter what other titles he or she may hold. Teacher-led schools are unlikely to replace principal-led schools, but maybe their ideology can influence school leaders to be more collaborative and team-centered.
* As noted in the article, Nazareno left the Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy for a position as a teacher-in-residence with the Center for Teaching Quality in Conifer, Colorado.
ASCD members and EL subscribers can access Nazareno’s article at the following link:
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/oct13/vol71/num02/Portrait_of_a_Teacher-Led_School.aspx
Special thanks to Christopher Wooleyhand, Ph.D (@principal64) who volunteered his blog post about teacher-led schools, also published on his blog. The original post can be found here. Interested in contributing? Contact us.
Are Teacher-Led Schools Viable?
The October edition of Educational Leadership focused on leveraging teacher leadership. This is a topic near and dear to my heart. I am convinced that growing teacher leadership is the key to raising the level of instruction in our nation’s schools. I also believe that principals are responsible for making this happen. I was, therefore, intrigued with Lori Nazareno’s article titled, Portrait of a Teacher-Led School.
In her article, Nazareno describes the teacher-led school she opened in Denver, Colorado. According to her, “(they) have consciously created an environment that requires all teachers to lead in a climate in which everyone owns student learning.” The school reports that is uses teacher teams as well as peer observation and evaluation to guide instruction.
The article gives a balanced view of the innovation that can be fostered in a teacher-led school, while also outlining the challenges of leadership in a “flat” organization. Nazareno isn’t suggesting that all schools can make do without a principal.
New ideas in teaching and school leadership are needed and should be welcomed. If a teacher-led school model fosters increased academic achievement, then we should embrace it. Nazareno, however, doesn’t offer any data to tout her school’s success. It would be interesting to see a longitudinal study conducted on the efficacy of teacher-led schools. Of course, there is more to a school’s success than student performance data.
After reading the article, I still feel strongly that teacher leadership should be able to thrive regardless of whether a school is led by a principal or by a lead-teacher. In fact, a strong, collaborative principal can foster a level of leadership that empowers teachers to make the same instructional decisions that are made in teacher-led schools. Principals are also skilled at protecting teachers from administrative tasks that can sidetrack their instructional focus.
Frankly, the concept of teacher-led schools also makes me a little sad. Has the state of education reached such a low point that principals are now seen as obstacles to the learning process? I also find it a little ironic that when you visit the website for Nazareno’s school*, the Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy, they list a principal and a lead teacher as staff members. This would suggest that maybe the packaging was changed, but the contents are the same.
Perhaps the biggest contribution of the teacher-led movement is that the term lead-learner has become popular. If a principal sees himself or herself as the lead learner, then it won’t matter what other titles he or she may hold. Teacher-led schools are unlikely to replace principal-led schools, but maybe their ideology can influence school leaders to be more collaborative and team-centered.
* As noted in the article, Nazareno left the Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy for a position as a teacher-in-residence with the Center for Teaching Quality in Conifer, Colorado.
ASCD members and EL subscribers can access Nazareno’s article at the following link:
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/oct13/vol71/num02/Portrait_of_a_Teacher-Led_School.aspx
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