About the Center for Teacher Leadership

Teaching is a complex job that requires knowledge, skill, preparation, and commitment. All of our training and development activities are directly aligned to support student outcomes and system goals. Our professional development opportunities are all member-created, member-organized, and member-facilitated.

The Center for Teacher Leadership was founded for several purposes:

• Promote the reform of the educational process by providing innovative training to teachers and other educational professionals to enhance the knowledge, skills, and ability of teacher leaders in public education;
• Examine existing models of teacher leadership within the public school systems and other educational organizations, and develop training models in light of those examples;
• Encourage initiatives for change in the educational process, including new roles for teachers and other educational professionals;
• Promote, encourage, and foster charitable, educational, and research activities consistent with the above.

 

The Center for Teacher Leadership creates professional development opportunities based on The Teacher Leadership Initiative model.

The Teacher Leadership Initiative model was developed by the National Education Association, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and the Center for Teaching Quality.  This model brings together three intertwined pathways that define the ways in which teachers can blaze new paths in education: instructional leadership, policy leadership, and association leadership.

• Instructional Leadership is where great teacher leadership begins … in the classroom, but not just any classroom. Great teacher leadership starts with great instruction—classrooms where doors are open to colleagues, new learning, and the larger community as partners.
• Policy Leadership is seamlessly connected to instruction. Teachers leading in this arena can have a rippling effect on the system, prompting teachers to step beyond the implementation of policy mandates to meaningful engagement and relationship building.
• Association Leadership helps focus the vision, and broadens perspectives around what it means to lead the profession. When teacher leaders keep a keen eye on what is needed to strengthen the system, and commit to upholding core values that support the learners and the learning environment, they have greater potential to influence the larger surrounding community on which we rely to sustain the system.

All three leadership pathways are dependent upon several overarching competencies or critical ideas that characterize what all teacher leaders should know, do, and believe when leading systemic change.  Read more here.