Reflections teacher leaders-what can we learn from their journeys?: a case study.

Abstract

The case study attempted to explore the journeys of novice teachers to teacher-leaders to extract knowledge from their reflections. It investigated the constructs of the teacher leader, both personal and professional, their role in and outside of the classroom. This case study is a qualitative study of five purposefully- selected teacher-leaders who speak as teacher leaders, reflecting on of their experiences. The research was undertaken using: semistructured interviews as the data collection method. The responses of the participants were categorised into themes as follows: Challenges of teacher-leaders, Institutional culture, family support and professional development. The main findings were that being a teacher leader requires that the teacher leader commits and invests personal time and resources in their personal and professional development to remain at the relevant and effective as leaders in their schools. It was found that teacher leaders could surpass negative school circumstances to inspire positive learner outcomes, and that they must have values of leadership value in order to overcome personal – professional challenges.