ARTICLE IN PRESS

Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 961972

www.elsevier.com/locate/tate

Teacher led school improvement: Teacher leadership in the UK

Daniel Muijsa,, Alma Harrisb
a
University of Manchester, School of Education, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
b
University of Warwick, UK

Abstract

Teacher leadership is increasingly being seen as a key vehicle for school improvement and renewal. However, research on
this phenomenon is limited, especially outside of the US.
This article presents ndings from an empirical study of teacher leadership in the UK, aimed at exploring both the ways
in which teacher leadership can inuence school and teacher development, and what in-school factors can help or hinder
the development of teacher leadership in schools. The study was undertaken using a qualitative case study approach,
purposively selected as being sites where teacher leadership was operational.
Data indicated that teacher leadership was characterised by a variety of formal and informal groupings, often facilitated
by involvement in external programmes. Teacher leadership was seen to empower teachers, and contributed to school
improvement through this empowerment and the spreading of good practice and initiatives generated by teachers.
A range of conditions needed to be in place in schools for teacher leadership to be successful, including a culture of trust
and support, structures that supported teacher leadership but were clear and transparent, strong leadership, with the head
usually being the originator of teacher leadership, and engagement in innovative forms of professional development.
r 2006 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Keywords: School reform; Distributed leadership; Teacher professionalism; Empowerment; School conditions

1. Introduction confident in their own capacity, in the capacity of

Successful school improvement is dependent
upon the ability of individual schools to manage
change and development. This necessitates building
the capacity for change and development within
the school as an organisation. Building the capacity
for school improvement requires paying careful
attention to how collaborative processes in schools
are fostered and developed. In particular, it is
concerned with maximising teacher professional
learning. It suggests that where individuals feel
Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 161 2753039.
E-mail address: daniel.muijs@manchester.ac.uk (D. Muijs).
their colleagues and in the capacity of the school to
promote professional development (Mitchell & Sack-
ney, 2000, p. 78) school improvement is more likely
to be achieved.
Building capacity for school improvement implies
a profound change in schools as organisations. It
suggests a view of the school as a professional
community where teachers have the opportunity to
learn from each other and to work together. In such
communities leadership is distributed throughout
the system and improvement occurs from an internal
search for meaning, relevance and connection (Mitch-
ell & Sackney, 2000, p. 139). Building the capacity
for improvement also means extending the potential

0742-051X/$ - see front matter r 2006 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

doi:10.1016/j.tate.2006.04.010
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
962 D. Muijs, A. Harris / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 961972
and capabilities of teachers to lead within the
organisation. In the USA, Canada and Australia
the concept of teacher leadership is particularly
well developed and grounded in some research
evidence. This model of leadership implies a
redistribution of power and a re-alignment of
authority within the organisation. Evidence would
suggest that where such conditions are in place,
leadership is a much stronger internal driver for
school improvement and change (Hopkins, 2001).
Within the literature the concept of teacher
leadership is dened in various ways (see Harris
and Muijs, 2001). However, most commonly it is
interpreted as comprising of the formal leadership
roles that teachers undertake that have both
management and pedagogical responsibilities i.e.
head of department, subject co-ordinator, key stage
co-ordinator; and the informal leadership roles that
include coaching, leading a new team and setting up
action research groups. Teacher leadership is con-
ceptualised as a set of behaviours and practices that
are undertaken collectively. It is centrally concerned
with the relationships and connections among
individuals within a school. Teacher leadership is
conceptually closely linked to distributive leader-
ship, but is conceptually narrower, being concerned
exclusively with the leadership roles of teaching
staff, while simultaneously being broader than
many practical operationalisations of distributed
leadership that have often concentrated on formal
positional roles, in particular those relating to
middle management and subject leadership (e.g.
Camburn, Rowan, & Taylor, 2004).
A key element in this model of distributed
leadership is that the nature and purpose of
leadership is the ability of those within a school to
work together, constructing meaning and knowledge
collectively and collaboratively (Lambert, 1998,
p. 5). Taking this stance, leadership is a fluid and
emergent rather than a fixed phenomenon. As Gronn
(2000, p. 333) has suggested this has three implica-
tions. Firstly, it implies a different power relation-
ship within the school where the distinctions
between followers and leaders tend to blur. Sec-
ondly, it has implications for the division of labour
within a school, particularly when the tasks facing
the organisation are shared more widely. Thirdly, it
opens up the possibility of all teachers becoming
leaders at various times. It is this last dimension that
has most potency and potential for school improve-
ment because it is premised upon collaborative
forms of working among teachers. This conceptua-
lisation of leadership, which reects current theories
in educational leadership and management (Barth,
2001; Gronn, 2000; Harris & Lambert, 2003;
Woods, Bennett, Harvey, & Wise, 2004), differs
from some more traditional conceptualisations that
locate leadership rmly within the person of the
headteacher and reects the view that every person
in one way or another can demonstrate leadership
(Goleman, Bryatzis, & McKee, 2002). This does not
mean that everyone is a leader or should be but it
opens up the possibility for a more democratic and
collective form of leadership. Gronn (2000) views
leadership as more of a collective phenomenon
where
y leadership is present in the ow of activities in
which a set of organisation members nd
themselves enmeshed. (Gronn, 2000, p. 331)
and where leadership is viewed as a ow of
inuence in organisations which disentangles it
from any presumed connection with headship
(Gronn, 2000, p. 334). It is this view of leadership
which has informed this study, and, therefore,
where we use the term leadership in this paper we
are referring to leadership as a process operating in
organisations, rather than as a process operating, or
operated by, an individual.
Teacher leadership is premised upon a power re-
distribution within the school. In this leadership
model the power base is diffuse and authority is
dispersed within the teaching community. In this
sense, leadership is widely distributed amongst
organisational members. The extent to which power
is ever truly distributed is disputed, however,
especially in a culture of accountability where
ultimate responsibility will always rest with the
headteacher. However, while a substantial literature
exists on teacher leadership, empirical studies of
teacher leadership in action are relatively rare.
In many cases, the literature tends towards
advocacy rather than empirical research, presenting
a very optimistic picture of the implementation of
teacher leadership and its consequences. There is
some evidence for positive effects on school
improvement, though not all the research is of high
quality. Studies of the ways teacher leadership
actually can be implemented and what factors can
enhance it are rarer still, and most originate in
the US leaving questions about generalisability to
other educational systems and contexts. (Muijs &
Harris, 2003)
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D. Muijs, A. Harris / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 961972
2. The research
In the UK, teacher leadership is a relatively recent
phenomenon. Some examples of teacher leadership
are, however, currently emerging through initiatives
like the Networked Learning Communities, but as
yet detailed accounts of teacher leadership do not
exist in this country. A great deal of research has
focussed upon the leadership of the headteacher but
little account has been taken of alternative con-
ceptualisations or models of distributed or shared
leadership, particularly those that address issues of
teacher professional learning and growth. Further-
more, as mentioned above, much of the existing
international literature is somewhat lacking in
detail, and may therefore be less useful to teachers
and schools intending to go down the road to
teacher leadership.
Therefore, although the literature points towards
benecial effects of teacher leadership upon schools
and students (Muijs & Harris, 2003), there is a
relative absence of research that has explored the
nature and impact of teacher leadership within the
UK context. In 2003 the General Teaching Council
for England (GTCE, the national professional body
for teachers), in conjunction with the National
Union of Teachers (NUT, the largest teacher union
in England), commissioned a research project to
explore the extent to which teacher leadership, as a
distinctive form of professional collaboration for
school improvement, has cogency in the UK. Within
the project teacher leadership was dened as
the capacity for teachers to exercise leadership
for teaching and learning within and beyond the
classroom.
Initially, an extensive literature review funded by
the GTCE was undertaken (Muijs & Harris, 2003)
to explore the empirical and theoretical base
underlying the concept of teacher leadership. This
project built upon the initial review by exploring
teacher leadership in more depth and providing
contemporary evidence of teacher leadership in
action. In particular, this project aimed to
 identify different models of, and approaches to,
teacher leadership in practice;
 explore how teacher leadership can best be
facilitated and developed;
 explore the possible relationship between teacher
leadership, as a form of professional collabora-
tive work, and school improvement.
963
The operational denition of teacher leadership
used in the research was one premised upon
purposeful collaboration and co-operation amongst
teachers. It is not leadership as dened by formal
role or responsibility (e.g. an assistant head or a
subject co-ordinator) but, as mentioned above, as
collective agency and professional collaborative
action with a pedagogical purpose which can take
the form of both formal and informal leadership
roles.
A case study design was adopted for the project.
Qualitative evidence was collected from ten school
case studies selected through purposive sampling,
covering a variety of contexts and circumstances.
These schools were initially identied by Local
Education Authority (LEA) advisers, national
bodies and external projects on the basis that there
was evidence of teacher leadership in the school that
was considered to be contributing to improvement.
Researchers interrogated key informers in these
bodies who identied a long list of schools. A short
list was then selected. All schools shortlisted agreed
to participate in the study. In selecting the short list,
care was taken to select ten case study schools that
encompassed a range of variables (sector, geogra-
phical location, gender, ethnic mix) and reected a
mixture of external initiatives (e.g. Networked
Learning Communities, Education Action Zones,
external school improvement initiatives). Both
primary (5) and secondary (5) schools were included
as cases, as it was felt that though the contexts in
both sectors are quite different, empowering tea-
chers would be something that could benet both. A
total of 4 schools (2 secondary, 2 primary) were
situated in disadvantaged inner-city areas. A total of
4 schools (2 primary and 2 secondary) were situated
in middle class suburban areas, while the remaining
two were situated in (semi) rural areas. All schools
were situated in the South and Midlands of
England.
It is acknowledged that in a small scale study of
this type generalisations to a national picture are
difcult to make. Moreover, purposive sampling of
schools where teacher leadership is present means
that these schools are by denition not representa-
tive of the population of schools, in many of which
teacher leadership may not be present. However the
study does provide some contemporary cameos of
teacher leadership in action and offers some insights
into this form of professional collaborative action in
schools. Because these schools can be said to be
advanced in terms of the operation of teacher
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
964 D. Muijs, A. Harris / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 961972
leadership within them, they allow us to make some
tentative generalisations to theory with regards to
ways in which teacher leadership can and does exist.
In summary, the case study analysis allowed: an
exploration of teachers understanding(s) of the
concept of teacher leadership; contemporary in-
sights into teacher leadership and forms of teacher
collaboration in action; an analysis of the benets of
teacher leadership to classroom and school im-
provement; an exploration of the conditions that
enhance and support teacher leadership.
Data was collected through semi-structured inter-
views with a diagonal cross section of school staff,
including teacher leaders, classroom teachers, mid-
dle managers, governors and headteachers in each
school and through collection of documentary
evidence such as school development plans and
reports from Ofsted (the quasi governmental
organisation responsible for school inspection in
England). The analyses reported here focus on the
interview data due to space constraints. Two
researchers were involved in data collection, which
took place in the Spring and Summer terms of 2003.
The interview schedules were based on prior
research into teacher leadership interrogated by
the authors and drew upon existing studies and
instruments (such as Lamberts (1998) framework)
(Harris & Muijs, 2001; Lambert, 1998).
Data was explored using a thematic analysis
framework, which allowed emergent themes to be
developed alongside a coding framework which
consisted of a number of predetermined codes in
such areas as school leadership, personal actions,
professional skills and knowledge, collaboration
and change agency. The eldwork data was
analysed undertaken using constant comparative
method which involves anticipation, immersion,
validation, interpretation and analysis (Becker,
1958). These steps are very similar to the stages of
analysis identied by Parlett and Hamilton (1977).
This four stage analytical strategy based on the
conventions of sociological eldwork has been used
in a wide range of research and evaluative studies
and will be used by the project to analyse the case
study evidence. Therefore, while an a-priori coding
frame was employed, ongoing generation of new
codes occurred during the coding process, and new
themes emerged during the iterative thematic
analysis process that followed initial coding. There-
fore, some of the ndings here accord with priori
codes (an example of these are most of the barriers
to teacher leadership identied), while others can be
counted as emerging themes (such as the ve
dimensions of teacher leadership). The Qualrus
software programme was used to code and analyse
the data.
3. Main ndings from the study
3.1. Understanding teacher leadership
The research found that teacher leadership was
not a term generally used by those in schools. For
most teachers in the study leadership was not a
word they readily associated with their own
activities, even though many of them were leading
initiatives and developments. However, the project
found that teacher leadership could be a mean-
ingful concept to teachers when it was introduced as
a way of describing professional collaboration or
engagement for a specic purpose e.g. developing
new curriculum materials, planning joint teaching
or preparing for peer observation. Teacher leader-
ship for our respondents was connected with
professional initiative and learning, both within
and between schools, focused on improvement at
classroom, department/year group and whole-
school levels.
For example, one teacher reected:
I would say its either leading a department, a
year team, or making improvements, I imagine.
It doesnt necessarily mean youre a head of
department, or head of year, it could be having
responsibilities in that you have got to make
improvements.
In many cases it appears the question itself
triggered thought about the issue and an acknowl-
edgement that teachers were in shared leadership
roles within the school even though this was not
termed teacher leadership.
The research found that there were ve dimen-
sions of teacher leadership, as a form of profes-
sional initiative and learning. The rst was shared
decision-making where teachers were given respon-
sibility to make decisions on behalf of the school on
important developmental work. The second was a
form of collaboration in which they operated
collegially for the prime purpose of securing certain
outcomes linked to improving teaching and learn-
ing. The third was active participation where
teachers understood teacher leadership in terms of
being actively involved in core developmental tasks
and being participants in the process of school
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D. Muijs, A. Harris / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 961972
improvement. The fourth was professional learning
in which teachers are learning individually and with
colleagues. The fth was leadership as activism
where teachers engaged with issues on behalf of the
school in order to directly affect change and
development. Using these ve dimensions teacher
leadership can be viewed as an organisational
quality generated through particular forms of
teacher interaction and partnership.
3.2. What does teacher leadership look like in
schools?
Using the ve dimensions identied above the
research found a wide variety of formal and
informal groupings characterised as teacher leader-
ship. It is clear that the changing educational
climate in England towards federations, partner-
ships and networks has afforded more opportunities
for teachers to collaborate and has provided a
renewed legitimacy for teacher collaboration. Four
of the schools were involved in external initiatives or
programmes aimed at promoting collaboration.
Two were involved in Networked Learning Com-
munities (NLC), one in the school improvement
programme Improving the Quality of Education
for All (IQEA) and one in Best Practice Networks
(Specialist Schools Trust). These initiatives had
prompted new groupings amongst teachers both
within and across schools. These groupings were
predominantly subject-based or were action re-
search groups with a mandate to undertake devel-
opments or to problem solve in certain key areas for
the school or schools.
In the other case study schools teacher collabora-
tion and networking was not externally driven or
congured. It consisted of informal groupings
between teachers for particular purposes. In one
primary school, for example, teams of 45 teachers
were working to secure improvement in English and
the Arts. This group met regularly to discuss
curriculum, teaching and learning issues, and to
plan developmental work. As a result, the team
produced new materials for Key stages 1 and 2,
which were shared with staff and which formed the
basis of in-service training with other schools. Other
examples include: an initiative by the head of
Modern Foreign Languages to introduce a new set
of methods to improve pupils communication skills
in foreign languages, and a newly qualied business
studies teacher who had successfully set up an
965
enterprise project involving the whole school in
links with schools in Germany and the US.
There was some evidence that where teacher
collaboration was facilitated by externally funded
projects (i.e. NLCs, IQEA), there were more
opportunities for teachers to meet with each other
both within schools and across schools. The four
schools involved with these initiatives agreed that
this external support had enhanced teachers profes-
sional initiative and innovation signicantly, parti-
cularly through the provision of additional
resources and time. In contrast, those schools
without external support found it more difcult to
provide teachers with time to meet and inevitably
felt that their collaborative efforts were constrained
because of this factor.
4. Teacher leadership and school improvement
The case study methodology employed does not
allow us to make any denitive statements as to
whether or not teacher leadership leads to school
improvement. However, for the majority of respon-
dents in the study teacher leadership was viewed as
positive, and as being a key contributing factor to
school improvement, because it was seen to harness
teacher creativity and devolve work and responsi-
bility from the head. The head of one secondary
school, that had seen strong improvements over the
last 5 years, commented:
The improvements in the school are hugely down
to teachers taking responsibility for leadership.
We (The Senior Management Team (SMT)) cant
do it all ourselves. We can provide the vision, but
at the end of the day, weve got to rely on people
implementing the Numeracy strategy, the Lit-
eracy strategy, and so on.
The evidence points towards a deliberate attempt
by those in formal leadership roles to create the
conditions where teachers felt involved in decision
making and in shaping the future development of
the school.
Last year there was very much an atmosphere of
shared leadershipnatural and organic, happen-
ing when it needed to (advanced skills teacher,
secondary school).
What were trying to do is break down the
hierarchy (advanced skills teacher, primary
school).
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966 D. Muijs, A. Harris / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 961972
One of the main reasons given for the importance
of teacher leadership in improving schools was the
way it empowered teachers, seen as a key motivating
factor that ultimately improved their performance.
The head of a science department, for example,
stated that:
I think to be satised in their job, people need to
experience achievement. They need to grow
professionally. Teacher leadership does that for
them. A lot of people want nancial rewards or
status, but the self-respect you get from being
better at your job than you were last year is the
key, I believe.
An SMT member in another school said:
If you disempower teachers, you actually end up
creating a blame culture, where people just look
round for other people to poke when things go
wrong. So what I wanted to do was set up a
culture that empowered people.
This view is also reected by a school governor we
interviewed, who commented
I think its important that people believe they
have something to contribute to any organisa-
tion, be it school or British Rail or whatever.
The fact that teacher leadership allows senior
managers to tap into a larger pool of ideas and
solutions to problems was also seen as a highly
positive outcome of teacher leadership contributing
to improvement. As one head commented:
We cant know everything. Tapping into a range
of views is bound to help us come up with better
ideas, that are often more grounded in daily
practice.
The research found that activities associated with
teacher leadership, for example, teacher collabora-
tion, partnership or professional networking had a
positive effect upon teachers morale and teachers
sense of self-efcacy. The evidence from the project
highlighted that where teachers were engaged in
collaborative forms of activity they expressed a high
degree of ownership and involvement in the devel-
opment work of the school. Parenthetically, this was
considered to engender positive feelings of profes-
sional self-worth and to improve motivation levels.
As one teacher summarised:
In the past we were solving problems alone,
working independently. By working together, we
solve problems together and we support each
other. Working this way is not only productive
but an excellent way of feeling valued by others
and good about your own capabilities (Teacher,
Secondary School).
The data also suggested that teachers were more
likely to stay in schools where a culture of teacher
collaboration and leadership exists. The benets of
working with other teachers and being able to take
on individual initiatives and leadership roles was
identied by four teachers in the study as a major
reason to stay at the school. One teacher, for
example, commented that:
There are no barriers to teacher initiative here. I
would have felt that in other schools. I think
thats one of the reasons I stayed here. Because as
a supply teacher I went to many schools and this
was one of the toughest (in terms of pupil intake)
(Teacher, Secondary School).
The research ndings suggest that shared leader-
ship can be a positive lever for teacher retention and
recruitment. For example, in two of the schools, the
new members of staff interviewed had chosen the
school primarily because of prior knowledge about
existing opportunities for collaboration and net-
working with other teachers and schools. Allowing
teachers to take initiative and engage in leadership
has been associated with higher levels of teacher
retention in previous studies in the US, a factor
associated with stronger feelings of empowerment
among teachers and with greater job satisfaction
(Harris & Muijs, 2001). However, for this to be the
case it would seem to be important that leadership
activities of teachers do not substantively add to
workload, identied as a key factor in teacher drop-
out in one recent study (Smithers & Robinson,
2003), and therefore that time is built-in to teachers
workload models to engage in leadership activities.
Research has shown that where teachers are given
signicant responsibility for school development
and change, their work can have an impact on
school improvement. There was evidence within this
study of developmental work undertaken by tea-
chers impacting directly on the school and con-
tributing to improvement. For example, a group of
teachers in a secondary school had taken responsi-
bility for developing materials and resources to
support the use of accelerated learning techniques in
different subject areas in Key stage 3. These
materials were made available across the school.
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D. Muijs, A. Harris / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 961972
Departmental evidence and data would suggest that
these materials were making a positive contribution
to the quality of teaching and to learning outcomes.
5. Factors that enhance the development of teacher
leadership
As mentioned above, the case study evidence
points towards positive outcomes associated with
different forms of teacher leadership. The question
then is what conditions need to be met to help the
emergence and maintenance of teacher leadership in
schools. The following main factors were identied
in our case study schools:
1. Supportive culture
2. Supportive structures
3. Strong leadership (i.e. support from the head-
teacher, SMT and Governors)
4. Commitment to action enquiry and data rich-
ness
5. Innovative forms professional development
6. Co-ordinated improvement efforts
7. High levels of teacher participation and involve-
ment
8. Collective creativity
9. Shared professional practice
10. Recognition and reward
5.1. Supportive culture
Within each of the case study schools there was
evidence of a culture that supported teacher leader-
ship, collaboration and partnership. The data
suggests that teacher leadership can only be fostered
and nurtured in a culture that is supportive and
where relationships amongst staff are positive. The
degree of trust required for teachers to lead
initiatives, instead of the SMT, is high, and there-
fore in schools where the culture is not collegial the
possibility of teacher leadership is inevitably re-
duced. Teachers in these schools were actively
encouraged to lead initiatives within the school
and it was clear that there was a no blame stance
taken to innovation work that was less successful.
There were processes in place for sharing ideas such
as regular staff meetings, newsletters, away-days
and INSET days plus the mechanisms created by
external initiatives. In most of the schools there was
also evidence of teacher engagement in research
activities and in some aspects of developmental
967
work through providing feedback or through
collecting different forms of data (photographic,
written, taped). As mentioned above, another
important element of the schools culture was a
high degree of trust. As one subject leader said:
I think trust in this school is very strong, and
weve worked hard as a school to develop that.
We had a day closure where we talked about
building learning communities. We went right
back to grassroots and said how do we see
learning, and how do we want the school to be
managed and led to promote learning? (Class-
room Teacher, Primary School).
Heads and senior managers need to trust teachers
to develop initiatives that actually improve the
school, and to exercise sound judgement that has
the interests of pupils and the school at heart.
However, trust needs to work both ways. Teachers
need to trust the motives of senior management,
which can sometimes be construed as taking
advantage by asking teachers to do more without
commensurate increases in salary or formal job
position.
Developing trust is therefore a key task within a
school, in which communications play an important
role, rooted as it is in the everyday social interac-
tions between actors in the school. Trust is most
likely to develop in schools were relationships are
strong, in the sense that staff know, or think they
know, one another (Bryk & Schneider, 2003). Trust
can itself be fostered by collaborative school
improvement work, but can also be encouraged
through specic team building activities, which were
undertaken in a number of case study schools.
5.2. Supportive structures
The data showed that favourable cultural condi-
tions for teacher leadership were created through
certain structural arrangements. In schools in the
study there were opportunities to switch roles and
responsibilities. As one head noted:
There are lots of opportunities for staff to move
around in school (post wise).
Regular meetings with the whole school staff,
monitoring meetings with line managers and op-
portunities to meet together to jointly plan new
initiatives were key components in building leader-
ship capacity in the schools. Some teachers sug-
gested that explicit opportunities for reection
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
968 D. Muijs, A. Harris / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 961972
should be built into the school day. All teachers in
the study had the opportunity to regularly discuss
teaching and learning issues with colleagues. They
also contributed to staff meetings, although some
younger teachers felt that contributions were not
always appreciated or welcome, even in schools that
strongly encouraged teacher leadership. As one
young teacher commented:
Most of the time you can contribute. But I think
sometimes you do feel uncomfortable cos you
know people will disagree with what youre
saying.
Clear hierarchies were felt to be a facilitator, not a
hindrance, Where structures were unclear, teachers
complained that this hampered their willingness to
take initiative, as they were never sure how their
contribution would be received and on whos toes
they might be treading. As one teacher commented:
I think if roles were more clearly dened it would
be easier. You sometimes get the impression that
you can do something, and then someone says
oh no, you shouldnt have done that.
Encouraging internal promotions and good CPD
opportunities were also seen as contributory factors
to a creating a positive school culture that
supported teacher leadership. What is clear is that
the cultural and structural conditions need to be
optimum for teacher leadership to ourish but that
giving teachers some leadership responsibility is one
way of helping to generate the internal conditions
for change.
5.3. Strong guidance and support from the head
At each of the case study schools there was strong
support and direction from the headteacher and the
leadership team for teacher leadership. This support
was seen as instrumental in ensuring that all staff
were aware of the importance of the work and
cooperated with each other. There was a shared
view that without the support of the headteacher
and other members of the leadership team, these
activities were unlikely to ourish. The research
literature on teacher leadership concludes that the
headteachers support is central to the success of
shared or distributed leadership (Muijs & Harris,
2003). These research ndings reinforce this view
and also point towards the need for the support of
Governors, particularly when developments have
school wide implications.
It would be difcult to undertake this type of
work without the support of the head or the
senior team as so much depends on being able to
take other staff with you. Our Governors are also
supportive of our work as they know it is making
a difference (Classroom Teacher).
Not only was it the case that for teacher leader-
ship to ourish headteacher support was essential. It
was in fact the case that in the majority of schools
we studied, teacher leadership had started when a
new head arrived at the school and decided to
distribute leadership. It was therefore usually the
head who initiated teacher leadership, and where
this was not the case it seemed harder for teacher
leadership to take root. Where teacher leadership
was not successfully established, heads usually
blamed teacher apathy. However, what appeared
to be the case was that rather than apathy, there was
an element of teacher reticence and inexperience.
What this means is that heads, when introducing
teacher leadership, need to take positive steps.
Teachers should be actively encouraged to take on
leadership roles, through involvement in school
improvement teams, giving teachers formal leader-
ship roles, and encouraging teachers to take on
projects either individually or as part of a team.
Active promotion of teacher leadership by senior
management in this way appeared to be the most
effective way of initiating teacher leadership.
5.4. Commitment to action enquiry and data richness
Within each school there was a high degree of
commitment to various forms of action enquiry and
action research. The majority of working groups
were engaged in data collection of some form for the
prime purpose of informing development. Three of
the schools had dedicated their INSET days to
consider action enquiry methods and four schools
were receiving expert input on data collection and
enquiry from external initiatives. In those schools it
was felt that this training had contributed signi-
cantly to the work of the group and the subsequent
quality of the developmental activities.
As well as being engaged in action enquiry, each
of the case study schools was actively involved in
collecting a wide variety of data. In certain cases,
pupils were also engaged in data collection and
feedback to staff. Data was collected with the prime
purpose of informing subsequent development. In
one school, a group of teachers collected data about
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D. Muijs, A. Harris / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 961972
teacher assessment at KS1. This subsequently was
turned into a best practice guide for teachers at the
school. In three of the schools there was a particular
emphasis upon pupil data and engaging pupils as
researchers. Within these schools, pupils were
involved in collecting data that would contribute
to the work of the school improvement groups or
those teachers involved in the NLC.
Use of action inquiry and data to inform the
process was also instrumental in ensuring that
activities undertaken were effective, and did not
merely reect momentary whims or reactions.
5.5. Innovative forms of professional development
There was evidence within the majority of schools
in the study of innovative approaches to profes-
sional development. While all schools engaged in
INSET days these were often led by staff within the
school or by staff from other schools. An emphasis
was placed on knowledge transfer through the
various groupings within and across schools. There
was also evidence of peer tutoring and mentoring
across themes and subject groupings. Essentially,
the models of professional development that were
prevalent across the case study schools were pre-
mised on collective rather than individual learning.
In one primary school, a coaching and mentoring
programme was put in place to help develop
leadership skills in the members of the newly
constituted senior management team. This pro-
gramme was subsequently expanded to all staff.
Within the school, middle level leaders now work as
mentors for new staff and help them develop their
subject leadership roles.
Another way in which teacher leadership was
encouraged was by involving teachers in profes-
sional development activities that in many schools
they would not participate in. In one school, for
example, teachers were sent to LEA leadership
training events that were normally the preserve of
senior staff.
In summary, there is a high degree of involvement
in leadership development from within the school
and this is considered to be a way of building the
schools leadership capability.
5.6. Co-ordinated improvement efforts
In all cases, teachers and senior staff recognised
the need to co-ordinate the various areas of activity
or developmental work within the school. This was
969
achieved by regular meetings between the working
groups and the SMT. In these meetings updates on
progress were provided and any resource issues
discussed. In addition, the SMT in each school
carefully monitored the work of the groups and
considered engaging in external initiatives only if
this complemented their work. For example, one
school became involved in a NLC because it
reinforced what they were already doing and
complemented the leadership approaches that the
school was endorsing.
A key part of this process of coordinating is
developing a shared vision. This is a factor that has
long been found to be an important correlate of
school effectiveness (Reynolds & Teddlie, 2000), but
becomes particularly important where teacher
leadership is introduced. Where leadership is
distributed, there is a danger that staff start to
move in different directions, introducing strategies
and initiatives that lack internal coherence, such as
different teaching methods in different departments.
If teacher leadership approaches were to work
against such coherence they would at best have a
very limited positive impact, and at worst be
detrimental to whole school development. A shared
vision and culture therefore needs to underpin
any effort at distributing leadership and involving
teachers in school management. However, teacher
leadership, and in particular the involvement of
teachers in developing school vision as a collective
exercise itself contributed to this shared vision.
5.7. High levels of teacher participation and
involvement
It was noticeable at each school that the devel-
opment work was not conned to a small group of
teachers. The headteachers made every effort to
ensure there was broad participation and represen-
tation in working groups and in the various
initiatives. It was clear that teachers had a
temporary membership of working groups or net-
works with the understanding that other members
of staff could step in and take over their activities.
This way staff perceived any new initiative or
development as involving them even though they
might not be involved initially or directly. As one
secondary teacher put it:
There is an emphasis on shifting roles and
responsibilities, that way leadership is constantly
changing and evolving.
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970 D. Muijs, A. Harris / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 961972
The research found that high levels of engage-
ment and involvement of staff in the developmental
work of the school promoted high levels of self
esteem and a willingness among teachers to engage
with new ideas.
5.8. Collective creativity
The emphasis upon collaboration and mutual
sharing at the school meant that teachers were
encouraged to share ideas and to problem solve
together. The study found that teachers felt that this
way of working together was most likely to generate
a collective creativity that was both innovative and
rewarding. The innovative work in the case study
schools had resulted from the work of groups rather
than individuals and there was a consensus that it
was possible to produce more innovative and
creative work by working collaboratively.
By working with the other members of the NLC
we have been able to generate ideas that would
have been more difcult to reach as an individual
school or as a small group of teachers from one
area (Teacher, Primary School).
5.9. Shared professional practice
One of the main benets of collaborative ways of
working is knowledge generation and knowledge
transfer. Within the study there was evidence that
teachers were sharing knowledge but also sharing
professional understanding and practice. For ex-
ample, in one case study involved in a Networked
Learning Community teachers from the same
subject had taught in other schools for the prime
purpose of demonstrating certain classroom techni-
ques or pedagogic approaches. This exposure of
professional practice was shown to have a powerful
impact on other teachers and contributed signi-
cantly to their professional learning.
One of the major benets of working together is
the possibility of seeing other types of teaching
and learning new techniques and approaches
from teachers with different styles or approaches
(Teacher, Secondary School).
5.10. Recognition and reward
Within each of the case study schools there was a
high degree of support and professional recognition
for the work undertaken. An emphasis was placed
on dissemination both within schools and between
schools. Where possible and appropriate teachers
were rewarded but it was clear that most of the
professional activities were not formally recognised
through external accreditation opportunities. Tea-
chers in the study felt that some form of external
recognition or accreditation for their efforts would
be very helpful.
While there are intrinsic rewards in the increased
responsibility teachers enjoyed in these schools, and
in the improvements these were seen to generate, it
must not be forgotten that an additional burden of
work and responsibility was being placed on
teachers, that may lead some to feel reluctant to
participate. Actually rewarding and recognising
their efforts may therefore be important particularly
with a view toward sustaining teacher leadership
once the initial burst of enthusiasm has worn off.
6. Barriers to teacher leadership
The study found a wide variety of barriers to the
development of teacher leadership. Three main
categories emerged from the data.
The rst of these is the external educational
context. External accountability mechanisms, espe-
cially in low performing schools, put a strong
burden on teachers and on senior management that
makes the distribution of leadership more difcult
and more risky.
When youre in the situation we are, just out of
serious weaknesses, with poor exam results, still
below the magical 25% 5 A*-Cs that the DfES
want, your accountability is extremey The
earned autonomy thing, its not helpful. I believe
it should be reversed, all schools get autonomy
until they get themselves into serious difculties
(Senior Manager, Secondary School).
The proliferation of top-down initiatives emanat-
ing from central government was similarly viewed as
stiing teacher initiative and leadership capabilities.
The second barrier relates to teachers capacity to
undertake extra work. The lack of time for
teachers to engage in activities outside of classroom
teaching and administration appears to be a key
inhibitor to teacher leadership, as it is to other
educational initiatives.
One of the big inhibitors is time. They are willing
and they are able, but they have to have a life at
the end of the day (Head, Secondary School).
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D. Muijs, A. Harris / Teaching and Teacher Education 22 (2006) 961972
Some teachers also feel they are lacking in
experience and condence when taking on leader-
ship roles. Also according to some SMT members,
teacher leadership is inhibited by general teacher
apathy and a lack of willingness to take on new
responsibilities.
Finally, the role of senior managers in some cases
can be seen as a barrier particularly where not all
senior managers are willing to relinquish control,
where leadership from the head is seen as weak, or
where senior managers are poor communicators. In
one school we found that teacher leadership had not
developed as successfully, due in large part to a lack
of communication and somewhat passive approach
to teacher leadership on the part of the headteacher.
While professing support for teacher leadership, the
head did not take any active steps, but waited for
teachers to come forward and take initiatives. This
was an unsuccessful approach that left teachers
confused and never allowed teacher leadership to
become embedded. Active approaches, whereby
school improvement teams are deliberately consti-
tuted and teachers given roles, appear essential.
7. Commentary
With the continued focus on transforming educa-
tion through building professional learning com-
munities within schools it would seem that teacher
leadership is an idea that is particularly timely.
While some initial work is underway, more work is
required to explore distributed forms of leadership,
including teacher leadership, in much more depth. If
we are serious about building professional learning
communities within and between schools then we
need forms of leadership that support and nourish
meaningful collaboration among teachers. How-
ever, we also need to be cautious about over-stating
and over-claiming the relationship between teacher
leadership and school and student level outcomes.
Despite the assertion by Crowther, Kaagan, Fergu-
son, and Hann (2002, p. 34) that teacher leadership
produces positive school outcomes not enough is
known, at present, about how teacher leadership
inuences schools, despite widespread optimism in
the associated literature.
However, there is increasing empirical evidence
concerning professional learning communities. As
Hargreaves (2002, p. 3) notes professional learning
communities lead to strong and measurable im-
provements in students learning. Instead of bring-
ing about quick xes or supercial change, they
971
create and support sustainable improvements that
last over time because they build professional skill
and the capacity to keep the school progressing.
There are an increasing number of studies that point
towards the relationship between the establishment
of professional learning communities and deep
teacher change (Toole & Louis, 2002, p. 12).
Research has also highlighted that instruction is
more effective in schools that are operating as
professional learning communities (Little, 1982;
Rozenholtz, 1989) and that there is a signicant
positive effects on student learning where the norms
of collaboration and teacher professional learning
are in place (Louis & Marks, 1996). Consequently, it
would seem important in future studies to explore
the relationship between teacher leadership and
professional learning communities focusing parti-
cularly on impact measures at school and student
level.
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