Abstract:
This paper reports on a doctoral study into teacher leadership within Anglican colleges in south-east Queensland. The impetus for this study was a pragmatic concern for leadership within the Anglican school system. While teacher leadership was a 'hot topic' in Anglican education, there has been no formal policy on teacher leadership in Anglican schools and little was known about teacher leadership in action within this system of schools. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to develop a more informed and sophisticated understanding of teacher leadership in Anglican colleges with the intention of informing both policy and practice in this area. This study was situated within a theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism and assumed an epistemology of pragmatic constructivism. 15 teachers across three Anglican colleges participated in this study and multiple methods were used in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data. Whilst this study represents a work-in-progress, to date, the researcher has identified a number of key research findings in respect to the teacher's perspective on teacher leadership behaviour, motivations and feelings. These findings highlight the multi-dimensional nature of teacher leadership, and the ups and downs of this leadership activity as well as suggesting support for those who wish to engage teacher leadership into the future.