Teachers' Views on Teacher Leadership: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

Contemporary theories emphasize the importance of teacher leaders who can impress and sincerely value the student and become a model and guide in the process of learning and production in order to be successful in the transformation and development of the educational organizations. The purpose of this study is to investigate the phenomenon of teacher leadership from the teachers' perspective and raise the awareness of teachers on their teacher leadership level. In that sense, the teachers were asked about the qualities a teacher leader must have, the obstacles to become a teacher leader, and the ways to improve leadership skills. The study group consists of 40 teachers who serve in primary, secondary, high school, and private schools in Trabzon province of Turkey. A semi-structured interview form was used to collect the research data, and the data were analyzed manually by using the content analysis technique. As a result of the research, key characteristics of teacher leaders were found to be being fair and reliable as a person, self-developing and a role model as a professional, and having effective communication skills as a social person. The emerging results from the views of the teachers showed that administration, colleagues and hierarchical structure of the system pose crucial obstacles for teacher leaders, and in order to nurture teacher leadership in schools teachers should be provided with professional development opportunities especially through with trainings focusing on improvement of leadership skills.