Working Together for Your School, Canadian researchers Michael Fullan and Andy Hargreaves describe five principles for redefining the teachers' role to include responsibilities outside the classroom. Even if done on a small scale regularly, this can make a very significant difference for other individual teachers and for oneself,'' they say. Each teacher has a responsibility to try to understand and to attempt to improve the culture of the school. Every teacher must be concerned about the health of the school as an organization. This does not mean getting obsessively involved in every aspect of school life, but it does mean taking some responsibility for the welfare of one's colleagues and the wider life of the school,'' they write.
Every teacher is a leader.
The leadership role will vary according to the stage of the teacher's life and career. This does not mean having a second career as an academic. But it does mean connecting with the knowledge base for improving teaching and schools. Each and every teacher has a direct responsibility for helping to shape the quality of the next generation of teachers. All teachers can make a contribution,'' they say, listing options that include working with student teachers, mentoring new teachers, and even supporting and praising other teachers who take on those roles.