Isatt 2015 tl

Inquiring Hong Kong prospective teachers' readiness for teacher

leadershipBy Sally Wai-Yan WANFaculty of Education

The Chinese University of Hong KongDate: 14 July 2015

Corresponding email: [email protected] Website: http://www.sallywywan.com

Paper presented at the ISATT 2015, The University of Auckland, New Zealand

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.sallywywan.com/

Outline Introduction

Literature review

Aim of study

Why this study?

Research method

Findings

Discussion, conclusion and implications

Introduction Teacher leadership in curriculum reforms

• Well-proved in student learning and school development in different countries (Leithwood & Louis, 2012)

• Developing teacher leadership in teacher education

• Teacher quality and teaching effectiveness (Leonard et al., 2012)

• "Disconnection" between teacher education programs and teacher leadership development (Zeichner, 2010)

Teacher leadership1990s “Formal leaders”

Decentralize curriculum decision making in schools and communities (Mangin & Stoelinga, 2008)

A “new paradigm”(Crowther et al., 2002)

Leadership is no longer bounded to be positions or delegation of responsibilities.

Teachers “lead within and beyond the classroom; identify with and contribute to a community of teacher learners and leaders; influence others toward improved educational practice; and accept responsibility for achieving the outcomes of their leadership” (Katzenmeyer & Moller, 2009: 6).

Teacher leadership: Recent studies

“identify those alterable conditions likely to have direct effects on students, and to inquire about the nature and strength of the relationship between these conditions and leadership” (Leithwood, 1999:681)

Teacher leadership: Recent studies

Successful teacher leadership is found to be mainly dependent on:

school culture

collegial relationships

principalship

(Durrant & Holden, 2006; Levenson, 2014)

Aim of the study

To explore prospective teachers’ perceptions of teacher leadership

Why this study?1. Past studies focused on in-service teachers

2. Teacher leadership in local studies is yet to be developed whilst few focused on the impacts of school-based curriculum projects on teacher leadership and leadership style in curriculum decision making (e.g. Law et al. 2010)

3. Suitable teacher education strategy can be provided to “potential” teacher leaders who “practice their craft in subtle ways that may not be obvious to others” (Katzenmeyer & Moller, 2009:14).

Research method

A sequential mixed method approach

2 phases of data collection (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007)

Phase 1: An online survey (QUAN)

Phase 2: individual interviews for further understanding the quantitative data (Quali)

Phase 1: Quantitative study

Participants

69 prospective teachers in the three compulsory courses in bachelor of education programme in one Hong Kong university during the academic year 2014-2015

Instrument

Teacher Leadership Inventory (Katzenmeyer & Moller, 2001)

25 items assessing teachers’ readiness for teacher leadership on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=no opinion, 4=agree, and 5=strongly agree.

Demographics N %Gender Male 19 27.5

Female 50 72.5Major area of study

Chinese language education

24 34.8

English language education

17 24.6

Mathematics education

14 20.3

Liberal studies education

4 5.8

Physical education 8 11.6Others 2 2.9

Year of study

Year 1 6 8.7Year 2 15 21.7Year 3 31 44.9Year 4 14 20.3Year 5 3 4.3

Teaching practice Yes 24 34.8No 45 65.2

Table 1. Demographics of survey participants.

Note: To 2 d.p.

Items Component1 2 3

1. I think being a teacher is both meaningful and important. -.121 .204 .6222. Individual teachers should be able to influence how other teachers think

about, plan for, and conduct their work with students..219 .519 -.059

5. I am willing to observe and provide feedback to fellow teachers. .630 .165 .2626. I would like to spend time discussing my values and beliefs about

teaching with my colleagues..742 .164 -.072

8. I would be willing to help a colleague who was having difficulty with his or her teaching.

.589 -.152 .112

9. I can see the points of view of my colleagues, parents and students. -.027 .436 .60210. I would give my time to help select new members for my school. .368 .425 .26211. I try to work as a facilitator of the work of students in my classroom and

of colleagues in meetings at my school..473 .560 .238

12. Teachers working collaboratively should be able to influence practice in their schools.

.315 .233 .549

13. I can serve as a classroom teacher and become a leader in my school. .341 .582 .04714. Cooperating with my colleagues is more important than competing with

them..154 .090 .689

15. I would give my time to help plan professional development activities. .197 .764 -.02116. My work can contribute to the overall success of our school program. -.115 .672 .04918. School and university faculty can mutually benefit from working together. .596 .357 .25519. I would be willing to give my time to participate in making decisions

about such things as instructional materials, allocation of resources, student assignments, and organization of the school day.

.523 .477 .150

23. I recognize and value points of view that are different from mine. .549 .238 -.21925. I want to work in an environment where I am recognized and valued as a

professional..544 .021 .361

Notes: Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.

Table 2. Rotated component matrix.

Number of items

Cronbach’s Alpha

F1 “Professional relationship with stakeholders”

7 0.79

F2 “Role of teachers” 5 0.73F3 “Value of teaching” 4 0.64

Table 3. Reliability analysis of three factors.

Note. Scores on a 5-point Likert scale: 5=strongly agree; 4=agree; 3=no opinion; 2=disagree; 1=strongly disagree

F1 F2 F3

F1 “Professional relationship with

stakeholders”

1

F2 “Role of teachers” .525** 1

F3 “Value of teaching” .337** .387** 1

Table 4. Component correlation matrix.

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

Phase 2: Qualitative study

Participants

15 prospective teachers with different major of study and year level agreed to participate in individual interviews

Instrument

Semi-structured interviews

Duration : 30 to 45 minutes.

Data analysis

Thematic analysis; color-coding method; emerging themes and issues (Stake, 1995)

Findings

Perceptions of teacher leadership

Teacher leadership and demographics

Table 5. Combined mean scores of three factors.

Factors M S.D.F1 “Professional relationship with

stakeholders”3.99 0.42

F2 “Role of teachers” 3.74 0.51F3 “Value of teaching” 4.24 0.47

Perceptions of teacher leadership

Factor 1: Professional relationship with stakeholders

Highest mean score: Item 25 “I want to work in an environment where I am recognized and valued as a professional” (M=4.35, S.D.=0.72)

Prospective teachers explained the meanings of a profession in terms of qualification, theoretical foundation, as well as practical application.

When you trust teachers as a profession, basically there is more freedom for teachers to adjust curriculum, or adapt teaching…When you go to the environment where confidence is given to you, really helping increase teachers’ enthusiasm and passion. (CRT, 6/1/2015)

Factor 1: Professional relationship with stakeholders

Lowest mean score: Item 19 “I would be willing to give my time to participate in making decisions about such things as instructional materials, allocation of resources, student assignments, and organization of the school day” (M=3.78, S.D.=0.68).

Less likely agreed on curriculum decision making due to heavy workload

…that’s very ideal if there’s cooperative

work, yet…how much time is needed?

Individual teachers’ workload has been big…to do so much…

[require] so much time to work with others, and

there’s no guarantee about its effectiveness.

(CRT, 6/1/2015)

Factor 2: Role of teachers

Highest mean score: Item 11 “I try to work as a facilitator of the work of students in my classroom and of colleagues in meetings at my school” (M=3.91, S.D.=0.66)

considered that collaboration is necessary for improving teaching

Two brains are better than one brain. … When working together, more ideas can be created. That means, there can be more methods to teach different students as they have different needs. (THL, 27/11/2014)


Lowest mean score: Item 2 “Individual teachers should be able to influence how other teachers think about, plan for, and conduct their work with students” (M=3.62, S.D.=0.86)

Perhaps due to lack of teaching experience

Old teachers are very experienced. Some…are of high positions...[who] put demands on new teachers. We are just new comers…old teachers’ thinking is already deeply rooted. There can be big differences in their thoughts about education and student learning. (RAL, 20/1/2015)


Observed school practice during teaching practice …

[Teachers’] work … is like “sweep the snow from your own door step”

[各家自掃門前雪 ], that’s because everybody is busy...so much to handle and won’t have time to

discuss.…there won’t be so much cooperation and idea exchange between new and experienced

teachers. They may not get along so well with each other because new

teachers always go with new teachers, old teachers go with old

teachers, or certain subject teachers just go with those teaching the same

subject. The environment is not really integrated. There’s a distance between new and old teachers. (RAL,

20/1/2015)


Lowest mean score: Item 15 “I would give my time to help plan professional development activities” (M=3.62, S.D.=0.79)

Common concerns:

limited time

lack of confidence

uncertainty about professional development

Teachers always work over time. How can we do much within limited time? This is really contradictory. Some want to do, yet there is so much to sacrifice. Teachers have to get dating or family time…there is so much to do at school. (OEY, 19/1/2015)

No matter what activities, they would prefer being participants, not planners. [because of being] incapable of planning [and unwilling to] put efforts in planning as you never know if others like your planned activities. (THL, 27/11/2014)

Being a freshly graduated teacher, you plan professional development activities to other teachers with four to six years of teaching experience. Are you so brave to do that? That’s really hard…If you really do so, many others would say something at your back. (ROT, 20/1/2015)

Factor 3: Value of teaching

Highest mean score: Item 14 “Cooperating with my colleagues is more important than competing with them” (M=4.46, S.D.=0.74)

Emphasis on the purpose of being a teacher: TO TEACH STUDENTS (well)

If there’s competition among colleagues, you

want a higher position…if you become

a teacher, is it your wish to get a higher

position or teach students well? (THL,

27/11/2014)

…there’s no need to outstand yourself in a team. More important thing is to

help your colleague do things better…don’t need to

compare because the ultimate goal is to let students learn. (VIC,

5/1/2015)

Factor 3: Value of teaching

Lowest mean score: Item 9 “I can see the points of view of my colleagues, parents and students” (M=3.96, S.D.=0.55)

there is some blockage between teachers and students. It’s hard

to understand everyone’s viewpoints. Sometimes teachers

regard students are immature...students at puberty stage are more rebellious and

don’t like cooperating with teachers. Teachers find it difficult

to communicate with them. (THL, 27/11/2014)

generation gap …little time for them to sit and

discuss together. There’s not enough time for teachers to talk with

students. So it’s hard to understand and communicate well with each

other. (LOT, 14/1/2015)

lack of time

Teacher leadership and demographics

Sum of Squares

df Mean Square

F Sig.

F1

Between Groups

1.704 4 .426 2.654 .041

Within Groups 10.273 64 .161 Total 11.977 68

F2

Between Groups

2.599 4 .650 2.768 .035


F3

Between Groups

.896 4 .224 1.013 .407


Table 6. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) of teacher leadership by year level.

Factor 1 “Professional relationship with stakeholders”: Year 4 student teachers had a relatively higher mean score (M=4.19,

S.D.=0.35)Factor 2 “Role of teachers”:

Year 1 had a higher mean score (M=4.17, S.D.=0.43)

Discussion, conclusion and implicationsTeacher education

Prospective teachers’ readiness for teacher leadership in the “Role of teachers” dimension is weaker

planning professional development activities

influencing others in instructional matters

• related to lack of actual situated experience• uphold high values of being a teacher (lack

an understanding of “complexities” of the teaching world)


Suggestions:

Offering authentic working experiences

Providing support during teacher education program (esp. teaching practicum)

Taking crucial factors into consideration when developing teacher leadership

Time + Workload level of school support, teacher autonomy, collaboration amongst staff (Ingvarson et al., 2005).


Weaker teaching efficacy and understanding of professional development:

Showed doubts about their own teaching capabilities

Lacked confidence in sharing teaching ideas with experienced teachers

Suggestions:

Empowerment opportunities through current teacher education

Development of appropriate teacher development programs for professional growth


Future research

Participants: other groups of prospective teachers & a greater sample (to explore relationships between perceptions of TL & demographics)

Follow-up studies (due to changes in perceptions during the teacher education program)

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Methods Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Crowther, F, Kaagan, S.S, Ferguson, M, & Hann, L. (2002). Developing Teacher

leaders. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Durrant, J., & Holden, J. (2006). Teachers Leading Change. London: Sage. Ingvarson, L., Kleinhenz, E., Beavis, A., Barwick, H., Carthy, I., & Wilkinson, J.

(2005). Secondary Teacher Workload Study: Report. Teacher Workforce and Careers. Retrieved on 25 May 2015 from: http://research.acer.edu.au/workforce/2.

Katzenmeyer, M., & Moller, G. (2009). Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Helping Teachers Develop as Leaders (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Law, E.H.F., Galton, M., & Wan, S.W.Y. (2010). Distributed curriculum leadership in action: A Hong Kong case study. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 38(3), 286-303.

Leithwood, K., & Louis, K.S. (2012). Linking Leadership to Student Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Leithwood, K. (1999). An organizational perspective on values for leaders of future schools. In P.T. Begley (ed.). Values and Educational Leadership (pp. 25–50). Albany, NY: SUNY.

Leonard, J., Petta, K., & Porter, C. (2012). A fresh look at graduate programs in teacher leadership in the United States. Professional Development in Education, 38(2), 205-228.

Levenson, M.R. (2014). Pathways to Teacher Leadership: Emerging Models, Changing Roles. Cambridge: Harvard Education Press.

Mangin, M., & Stoelinga, S. (ed.). (2008). Effective Teacher Leadership. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Stake, R. (1995). The Art of Case Study Approach. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.Zeichner, K. (2010). Rethinking the connections between campus courses and

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Isatt 2015 tl