Abstract:
The paper examines how the discourse of teacher leadership constructs particular identities and impacts on the professional lives of teachers. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the enactment of teacher leadership in the Level Three Classroom Teacher program in West Australian schools. Teacher responses to survey questions as well as policy documents pertaining to the program were analyzed to understand the day-to day practice of teacher leadership. This included identifying who the teacher leaders are, the nature and scope of their work and those factors that might promote or constrain teacher leadership. The experience of teacher leaders in this interpretive study, foregrounds the intensification of work experienced by those who seek and are successful in their quest to be teacher leaders, the impact of discourse on teacher efficacy and the importance of peer recognition in the construction of the teacher-leader. In this study, the extent to which teachers embraced the notion of teacher leadership was largely related to the degree to which teachers had status as leaders in the school community, including acknowledgement by peers and genuine opportunities to participate in school decision-making. In the absence of these factors, teachers were more likely to resent the increased workload, question the merits of the program and experience conflict in their workplace. Using discourse analysis and narrative mapping, the study constructs three archetypal teacher leaders; torchbearer, weary juggler and heckler to voice the experience of teacher leader. These are stories of engagement and resistance, all of which highlight the importance of emotions and discourse in the professional lives of teachers. The paper argues the need to rethink policy documents that assert particular constructions of teacher-leader and the need for more specific leadership training for teachers and school administrators if the potential of teacher leadership is to be realized.