| Teacher leadership is a promising practice that is having an impact on school reform. Traditional hierarchical styles of leadership are being replaced with distributive leadership models which redefine the roles of teachers. While some schools are practicing teacher leadership, the reasons for their success or failures are not well documented. There is little research that examines teachers' experiences as they develop into leaders and even less on teacher leadership in international schools.;This study examined individual stories of teachers as they made role changes from "just teachers" to teacher leaders. The purpose was to increase the understanding of teacher leadership within the context of educational reform in an American-sponsored overseas school. Key events, supporting factors, and barriers influencing that role change were studied. The overall methodology used was qualitative and included multiple phases. The first phase consisted of interviews with administrators and examined the common experiences of a group of teacher leaders, while the final phase was a case study of four teacher leaders.;The findings were a rare glimpse into the stories of teachers as they developed into teacher leaders. The study documented this school's definition, purpose and role of teacher leaders. It also uncovered the two key events influencing the classroom teachers' role changes, which were leadership opportunities and professional development, specifically the training provided through a university-school partnership. The findings covered barriers and supporting factors related to organization, teacher leadership development, and school culture and climate. Organizational factors included time and financial resources. Teacher leadership development factors were training and personal characteristics. School culture and climate factors included relationships with teachers and administrators, leadership social norms, and the international context. In the conclusion, it was found that teacher leadership positively influenced school improvement and teacher leadership skill development.;This study provides a real-life example of what teacher leadership "looks like" in operation. This may help schools as they operationalize teacher leadership. In particular, common barriers that should be avoided and supporting factors to be considered are outlined. This is important in determining readiness for teacher leadership and may be of special interest to school-university partnerships designed to train teacher leaders. |
