Teacher leadership: Prevalent shared leadership practices of middle school interdisciplinary teams and whole-faculty study groups

This research study was conducted to identify the prevalent shared leadership practices of middle school teachers who participate on interdisciplinary teams and teachers who participate in the whole-faculty study group process. Further, this information determined if factors such as teaching experience, level of education, or interest in leadership affect teacher perceptions of team leadership practices. The literature related to this study highlighted the potential for both interdisciplinary teams and whole-faculty study groups to improve schools.; The target population for this research included teachers from two middle schools located in Lake County, Illinois for the 2003--2004 school year. Two instruments were used to collect data: The Team Leadership Practices Inventory, Kouzes and Posner (1995) and a questionnaire developed by the researcher. The study included 85 teacher participants with an overall response rate of 88.6 percent.; The research suggests Enabling Others to Act was the most prevalent shared leadership practice for whole-faculty study groups. Enabling Others to Act, Modeling the Way, and Encouraging the Heart were the most prevalent shared leadership practices for interdisciplinary team respondents. Within both teacher groups, respondents who expressed an interest in leadership rated some shared leadership practices significantly higher than other respondents. Participants from both teacher groups would highly recommend participation in their particular teacher group to a colleague.