The Teacher Leader: Improving Schools by Building Social Capital through Shared Leadership

Is a strong leader with exceptional skills the answer to the daunting task of transforming or improving schools? The author argues that, despite the documented value of skilled leadership, in today's educational and financial climate the school principal cannot go solo. School and student success are more likely to occur when distributed or shared leadership is practiced. The need to attract and retain quality teachers is another reason to extend the role of the teacher to domains outside of the classroom walls. The author focuses on distributed or shared leadership as a facet of social capital, a driving force in the success of teacher leadership.For many years policymakers and educators alike have thought that a strong leader with exceptional skills was the answer to the daunting task of transforming or improving schools. Research has strongly indicated that the leadership of the school principal plays a critical role in the development of successful schools (Glanz, Shulman, & Sullivan, 2007; Purkey & Smith, 1983). Principals set the tone for the building, work to develop and carry out school goals, guide instruction, develop the budget, and lead the charge for student success. However, one need not look far to realize that this concept in its purest form has not come to fruition. School principals and other administrators are often expected to fix all the problems schools face, yet one might pose the question as to the feasibility of this notion; certainly Chief Executive Officers of successful corporations surround themselves with experts in a variety of fields. Skilled leadership is an important factor in school and student success; however, in todays educational and financial climate, no matter how skilled the school principal, he or she cannot go solo. School and student success are more likely to occur when distributed or shared leadership is practiced.Distributed or shared leadership implies a more cooperative view of influence and authority and is a shift from the belief that leadership is a unique characteristic that an individual has developed. Gronn (2002) found that when people collaborate and share their efforts and base of knowledge, the outcome is greater than the aggregate of their efforts as individuals. In addition, distributed leadership increases the pool of leaders or potential leaders for an organization-in this case, a school.Andrews and Lewis (2004) believed shared or distributed leadership to be a form of synchronous leadership where teacher leaders work with principal leaders, in different but compatible means, towards shared goals. The notion of teachers as leaders is not new, however. In 1986, a report funded by the Carnegie Foundation for Advancement ofTeaching suggested that districts denote individuals who could model teaching methodologies for other teachers. In addition, due to their daily work and interactions with students, teachers are in a prime position to make decisions regarding the teaching and learning process and apply change thoroughly and consistently (Howey, 1988; Livingston, 1992). The need to attract and retain quality teachers is another reason to extend the role of the teacher to domains outside of the classroom walls as "isolation is a primary reason that new teachers leave" (Heller, 2004, p. 6). This article focuses on distributed or shared leadership as a facet of social capital, a driving force in the success of teacher leadership.Who Are Teacher Leaders and What Do They Do? Teacher leaders are (usually) classroom teachers who share their expertise in myriad forms. Danielson (2006) wrote that teacher leadership is a "set of skills demonstrated by teachers who continue to teach students but also have an influence that extends beyond their own classrooms to others within their own school and elsewhere" (p. 12). Sometimes teacher leaders are formally designated as such and may have the title of teacher leader or another title that focuses on his or her expertise, such as data coach; in other instances, teacher leader is not an assigned position but a role taken on by the individual. …