Page 24 - Mini-Module 7

As such, the parallel leadership of the principal is crucial in terms
of leadership modeling, development of shared goals in school,
professional learning, and culture building.

In addition, this study also exhibited several other factors that
principals/schools should consider when nurturing teacher
leadership. Teachers agreed that more opportunities to exercise
leadership roles in the school would help to nurture teacher
leadership. Such opportunities may include shared decision-
making opportunities as well as the provision of time and space for
collaboration, relationship building, and reflective activities:
The time and space for collaborative lesson preparation and the
learning team of teachers have helped us to build a collegial
network in the school. (Mary)

Finally, the study demonstrated that the school may better
use external forces/resources to nurture teacher leadership.
All teachers in this study agreed that they had developed an
expanded notion of school leadership mainly because of their
sense of urgency in response to the changing needs brought
about by education reform in Hong Kong. They believed that
teachers should play a more significant role in terms of school
development and improvement. Furthermore, some asserted
that external resources could be better utilised to develop
teacher leadership:

Before, only the principal and the vice-principals could manage
the school, but now, things in school are so complicated that
more people have to be involved. For example, the more com-
plex issues arising from student learning, behavior and even
family problems have involved more teachers to support stu-
dent development. (Peter)
External resources can help teachers develop professional
learning and build learning communities beyond the school.
(Robert)

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