What do Teacher Leaders Value About Regional STEM Professional Learning Communities?
5. Conclusions
Conclusions and implications: The surveys, focus groups, and interviews with master teachers contain references to the importance of:
- barriers at the school and district level to practicing instructional leadership and implementation of reform curriculum
- research to inform practice
- networking or collective participation
- relationships between/across districts
- university mentors
- continued university support for teacher leaders
- sustained, strengthened university/district/school partnerships
Using Mangin's (2007) theory of distributed leadership, principals can support teacher leaders by recognizing the different roles and skill sets they possess, including leadership experience and preferences, whether teaching adults or working directly with students. Wenger's (2002) critical success factors for communities of practice speak to the interrelationships among teacher leaders, school site leadership or principals, district leaders, and university content experts. To sustain professional learning communities, each of these entities must cooperate, coordinate, and collaborate.
