Dorothy Andrews

This article reports on a case study from Australia contributing to a global research project that explores concepts and definitions of teacher leadership in 12 countries using a three-phase data collection approach: an initial literature review; a survey developed from themes in the literature and conducted in each of the countries; and semi-structured interviews designed to explore in depth the understanding of teacher leadership as perceived by the participants in each country, which is the focus of this article. The findings show a lack of coherence regarding expectations of teachers as leaders and teacher leadership, and emphasizes the need for a system-school alignment in support of teacher leadership wherein the principal and the teachers are respectfully acknowledged and supported as the custodians of their context.

A wealth of literature exists that describes the process of knowledge transfer (KT) as activities, interactions and mechanisms that foster the dissemination, application, and contextualisation of acquired learning into practice. However, little of this literature addresses the idiosyncratic nature of early childhood education and care contexts (ECEC), or the implications the process of KT has for professional development and professional learning of early childhood educators. This paper reports on efforts to address this issue by investigating existing literature. A four-stage filtering process was employed to interrogate KT literature (process, frameworks and models), and contextualise this information for ECEC settings. The paper outlines an emerging conceptual framework that has relevancy to ECEC in Australia, and more broadly, and explains how knowledge from professional development can translate into practice. The framework reinforces that the process of successful KT needs to start by identifying knowledge, and then move to acquiring and applying knowledge, before upscaling and sustaining knowledge.

The contextual, purpose-driven challenges facing schools and school systems across the world call for creative and innovative responses to revitalize school practices. The process of revitalization will require new thinking, new mindsets within an adaptive school culture and new leadership roles (formal and informal). Often the perception of leadership held within a school is that it is the province of the principal; however, if we move from a top-down model of leadership we can ulitize the capacity of others within to lead the learning. To enable this to happen, teacher leaders need to work with agency and principals need to nurture and grow their formal and informal leadership roles within the school. For many teachers, the question is how they can establish and commit to leadership roles and responsibilities within the school community while remaining in a teaching position. This case study examined the practices of teachers as they experienced leadership across three cross-cultural contexts: Colombia, Canada and Australia. It presents exemplars of teacher leadership in action and provides images of teacher leadership as enacted in addition to an understanding of the factors that were important in supporting their leadership actions.

“Inclusion!” is the catch cry heard across both educational and community contexts and yet the reality is often less than ideal. The diversity and complexity of student needs within regular classrooms are both an asset and a challenge for schools and classroom teachers. We believe, with Nelson Mandela, that “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” and in order for such a dream to be achieved, it is essential that the pedagogical practices that support the needs of diverse learners are clearly understood and supported by both teachers and school leaders. Most existing research emphasises the need to improve the skill sets of both teacher graduates and practising teachers as a means of enhancing student support. We suggest that it cannot stop at the individual classroom practice level. To maximise student outcomes, inclusive pedagogical practices must be school wide, and well understood, thus resulting in a culture of inclusion becoming embedded in school wide practices and maintained over the long term. Inclusive schoolwide pedagogical (SWP) frameworks and shared practices lie at the heart of the two case study examples used to illustrate the key messages from our research.