Exploring teacher leadership: A study of leadership practices among TESOL professionals in the Arab world

Sayyed Rashid Ali Shah; Hamid Ali Khan Eusafzai

doi:10.59400/fes.v2i1.395

Exploring teacher leadership: A study of leadership practices among TESOL professionals in the Arab world

Sayyed Rashid Ali Shah Galileo Institute of Learning & Development, Islamabad 44020, Pakistan
Hamid Ali Khan Eusafzai Social Sciences and Humanities Department, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Central Asia, Bishkek 720001, Kyrgyzstan

Article ID: 395

278 Views

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59400/fes.v2i1.395

Keywords: EFL context; professional development; teacher leadership; TESOL professionals; leadership structures

Abstract

This exploratory study delves into the concept of teacher leadership within the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) context in Qatar. It investigates the strategies employed by TESOL professionals to enhance their leadership practices and identifies factors influencing the realization of teacher leadership in this particular setting. Utilizing an interpretive approach, the study employs semi-structured interviews to collect qualitative data from TESOL professionals serving as teacher leaders in five different universities in Qatar. The findings reveal several strategies employed by teacher leaders to enhance their practices, including collaborative team efforts, maintenance of reflective diaries, participation in international conferences, attendance at professional development courses, and volunteering as editors and reviewers. These strategies support teacher leaders in their roles, facilitating on-the-job learning and keeping them abreast of new developments in English Language Teaching (ELT). The study also uncovers various factors that negatively impact teacher leaders’ practices. These include a lack of professional autonomy, the absence of teachers’ voices in the decision-making process, increased workload and accountability, and a lack of trust and support. Inadequate professional development opportunities and lower levels of intrinsic motivation hinder teacher leaders from developing leadership skills, acquiring knowledge, and shaping a strong leadership identity.

References

[1]Stephenson L. Developing Leadership Capacity Through Leadership Learning Opportunities. In: Elsheikh A, Coombe C, Effiong O (editors). The Role of Language Teacher Associations in Professional Development. Springer; 2018. pp. 187-200. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-00967-0_14

[2]Silva DY, Gimbert B, Nolan J. Sliding the Doors: Locking and Unlocking Possibilities for Teacher Leadership. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education. 2000; 102(4): 779-804. doi: 10.1177/016146810010200405

[3]York-Barr J, Duke K. What Do We Know About Teacher Leadership? Findings From Two Decades of Scholarship. Review of Educational Research. 2004; 74(3): 255-316. doi: 10.3102/00346543074003255

[4]Shah SRA. Teacher Leadership: A Case Study of Teacher Leaders’ Professional Development in an EFL Institute of a Saudi Arabian University [PhD thesis]. University of Exeter (United Kingdom); 2016.

[5]Sams DA. An Analysis of Leadership Beliefs and Practices of 25 TESOL Leaders [PhD thesis]. Indiana University of Pennsylvania; 2010.

[6]Harris A. Teacher Leadership: More than Just a Feel-Good Factor? Leadership and Policy in Schools. 2005; 4(3): 201-219. doi: 10.1080/15700760500244777

[7]Wenner JA, Campbell T. The Theoretical and Empirical Basis of Teacher Leadership. Review of Educational Research. 2016; 87(1): 134-171. doi: 10.3102/0034654316653478

[8]Bond N. Preparing Preservice Teachers to Become Teacher Leaders. The Educational Forum. 2011; 75(4): 280-297. doi: 10.1080/00131725.2011.602578

[9]Hite R, Milbourne J. A Proposed Conceptual Framework for K–12 STEM Master Teacher (STEMMaTe) Development. Education Sciences. 2018; 8(4): 218. doi: 10.3390/educsci8040218

[10]Katzenmeyer M, Moller G. Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Helping Teachers Develop as Leaders. Corwin Press; 2009.

[11]Öqvist A, Malmström M. Teachers’ leadership: a maker or a breaker of students’ educational motivation. School Leadership & Management. 2016; 36(4): 365-380. doi: 10.1080/13632434.2016.1247039

[12]Smith PS, Hayes ML, Lyons KM. The ecology of instructional teacher leadership. The Journal of Mathematical Behavior. 2017; 46: 267-288. doi: 10.1016/j.jmathb.2016.12.005

[13]Criswell BA, Rushton GT, Nachtigall D, et al. Strengthening the vision: Examining the understanding of a framework for teacher leadership development by experienced science teachers. Science Education. 2018; 102(6): 1265-1287. doi: 10.1002/sce.21472

[14]Inman M. The Journey to Leadership: A Study of How Leader-Academics in Higher Education Learn to Lead. University of Birmingham; 2007.

[15]Stephenson L. Leadership perspectives and influences: A conversation with five leaders in TESOL. Arab World English Journal. 2012; 3(4): 19-35.

[16]Rhodes C, Brundrett M. Growing the leadership talent pool: perceptions of heads, middle leaders and classroom teachers about professional development and leadership succession planning within their own schools. Professional Development in Education. 2009; 35(3): 381-398. doi: 10.1080/19415250902987122

[17]Newsom SK. Narratives of the Development of Urban Teacher Leaders [PhD thesis]. University of Tennessee; 2010.

[18]Stephenson L, Dada R, Harold B. Challenging the traditional idea of leadership in UAE schools. On the Horizon. 2012; 20(1): 54-63. doi: 10.1108/10748121211202071

[19]Sanocki SJ. The Process of How Teachers Become Teacher Leaders and How Teacher Leadership Becomes Distributed within a School: A Grounded Theory Research Study [PhD thesis]. Western Michigan University; 2013.

[20]Higgins C. Understanding Teacher Leadership and Professional Learning in a Secondary Mathematics Department [PhD thesis]. Florida Atlantic University; 2013.

[21]Alexandrou A, Swaffield S, MacBeath J. Scottish Teacher leaders: Two accidental journeys enacting leadership for learning. In: Alexandrou A, Swaffield S (editors). Teacher Leadership and Professional Development. Routledge; 2016. pp. 215-230.

[22]Fairman JC, Mackenzie SV. Spheres of teacher leadership action for learning. In: Alexandrou A, Swaffield S (editors). Teacher Leadership and Professional Development. Routledge; 2016. pp. 68-85.

[23]Smith CG. The Experience of Becoming a Teacher Leader [PhD thesis]. Utah State University; 2021.

[24]Stephenson L. Developing leadership capacity in English language teaching. In: Coombe C, Anderson NJ, Stephenson L (editors). Professionalizing Your English Language Teaching. Springer; 2020. pp. 197-206. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-34762-8_16

[25]DuFour R. What is a professional learning community? Educational Leadership. 2004; 61(8), 6–11.

[26]Preskill S, Brookfield SD. Learning as a Way of Leading: Lessons from the Struggle for Social Justice. John Wiley & Sons; 2008.

[27]Lave J, Wenger E. Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge University Press; 1991.

[28]Vygotsky LS. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Mental Processes. Harvard University Press; 1978.

[29]Kolb DA. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. FT Press; 2014.

[30]Dewey J. A Restatement of the Relation of Reflective Thinking to the Educative Process. DC Heath; 1933.

[31]Schön DA. The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Routledge; 2017.

[32]Wallace MJ. Training Foreign Language Teachers: A Reflective Approach. Cambridge University Press; 1991.

[33]Murphy J. Teacher leadership: Barriers and supports. In: Townsend T (editor). International Handbook of School Effectiveness and Improvement. Springer; 2007. pp. 681-706. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4020-5747-2_37

[34]Tschannen-Moran M. Fostering Teacher Professionalism in Schools. Educational Administration Quarterly. 2009; 45(2): 217-247. doi: 10.1177/0013161x08330501

[35]Muijs D, Harris A. Teacher leadership: Principles and practice. Available online: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=59ebdd2cf1b784e79e185be17471c722bca9984d (accessed on 5 February 2024).

[36]Cranston NC. Teachers as Leaders: A critical agenda for the new millennium. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education. 2000; 28(2): 123-131. doi: 10.1080/713650688

[37]Zydziunaite V, Kontrimiene S, Ponomarenko T, Kaminskiene L. Challenges in Teacher Leadership: Workload, Time Allocation, and Self-Esteem. European Journal of Contemporary Education. 2020; 9(4). doi: 10.13187/ejced.2020.4.948

[38]Smith ML. Publishing Qualitative Research. American Educational Research Journal. 1987; 24(2): 173-183. doi: 10.3102/00028312024002173

[39]Marshall C, Rossman GB. Designing Qualitative Research. Sage Publications; 2014.

[40]Kvale S, Brinkmann S. Interviews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing. Sage Publications; 2009.

[41]Creswell JW, Poth CN. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches. Sage Publications; 2016.

[42]Saldaña J. The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. Sage Publications; 2021.

[43]Hunzicker J. Attitude has a lot to do with it: dispositions of emerging teacher leadership. Teacher Development. 2013; 17(4): 538-561. doi: 10.1080/13664530.2013.849614

[44]Hunzicker J. Professional development and job-embedded collaboration: how teachers learn to exercise leadership. Professional Development in Education. 2012; 38(2): 267-289. doi: 10.1080/19415257.2012.657870

Published

2024-02-05

How to Cite

Shah, S. R. A., & Eusafzai, H. A. K. (2024). Exploring teacher leadership: A study of leadership practices among TESOL professionals in the Arab world. Forum for Education Studies, 2(1), 395. https://doi.org/10.59400/fes.v2i1.395

Download Citation

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2024)

Section

Article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Editor-in-Chief

Dr. Surapati Pramanik

Nandalal Ghosh B.T. College, India

eISSN

3029-2956

Publication Frequency

Quarterly

About the Publisher

Academic Publishing insists on taking academic exchange and publication as the main line, carrying out comprehensive management based on science and technology, and fully exploring excellent international publishing resources. Within 5 years, it will form a strategic framework and scale with science (S), technology (T), medicine (M), education (E), and humanities and arts (H) as the main publishing fields. Academic Publishing is headquartered in Singapore and based in Malaysia, with the United States and China providing the main scientific and academic resources. At the same time, it has established long-term good cooperative relations with other publishing companies, scientific research communities, and academic organizations in more than a dozen countries and regions. Academic Publishing uses English and Chinese as its main publishing languages, mainly publishing books, journals, and conference papers in print and online. The vast majority of publications follow the international open access policy, providing stable and long-term quality and professional publications. With the joint efforts of the expert team and our professional editorial team, our publications will gradually be indexed by international databases in stages to provide convenient and professional retrieval for various scholars. At the same time, manuscripts we accept will be subject to the peer review principle, and cutting-edge and innovative research articles will be preferentially accepted for peer reference and discussion. All kinds of our publications are welcome for peer to contribute, access, and download.

more

Volume Arrangement

2025

2024

2023

Featured Articles

Diachronic analysis of Spanish scientific production on teaching methodologies in Primary Education: A scientometric and conceptual perspective (2000–2023)

The evaluation of science is essential to ensuring the quality, validity, and reliability of scientific results. Science needs to undergo a review process to ensure the rigorousness of scientific output. This evaluation provides a solid basis for political and economic decisions related to the design and execution of research projects, the establishment of new lines of research, or the identification of areas of specialization. This paper analyses diachronically the Spanish scientific production related to the implementation and development of teaching methodologies in primary education and indexed in the Scopus and Web of Science databases during the period 2000–2023. This analysis is carried out on the one hand, from a scientometric perspective, based on the analysis of indicators such as diachronic production, the journals with the highest scientific productivity, and the most productive institutions, and, on the other hand, from a conceptual perspective, trying to define its relationship with other areas of education. The general results of this study reveal two clear stages: the first, up to 2010, with little scientific production; and the second, from 2011 onwards, characterised by a general growth. The relationship between this field and others such as initial teacher training, ICT, and didactics is also evident.

The relationship between teachers’ self-efficacy and classroom management practices in secondary schools

This study explores the intricate relationship between teacher self-efficacy and classroom management practices in secondary schools in the Mansehra district of Pakistan. Teacher self-efficacy, defined as the belief in one’s ability to manage and influence classroom environments effectively, has been identified as a critical factor influencing both teaching performance and student outcomes. The research employed a mixed-method approach, gathering data from 62 teachers and 310 students using both online surveys (via Google Forms) and physical questionnaires to ensure a diverse and inclusive participant pool. Data analysis was conducted using two complementary tools: SPSS and Smart PLS. SPSS was used for descriptive statistics and inferential analyses, such as t-tests, chi-square tests, and measures of central tendency, to offer an overview of group differences and relationships between variables. Meanwhile, Smart PLS was employed for Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), a technique suited for complex models and smaller sample sizes. This method allowed for the analysis of both direct and indirect relationships between the study variables—teacher self-efficacy, teaching practices, and classroom management. The findings reveal a significant positive correlation between teacher self-efficacy and classroom management practices. Additionally, teaching practices were found to mediate this relationship, indicating that higher levels of self-efficacy not only directly improve classroom management but also enhance teaching performance, which in turn contributes to better-managed classrooms. These results suggest that interventions aimed at enhancing teacher self-efficacy can have far-reaching effects on educational outcomes. The study highlights the need for focused teacher development programs that foster self-efficacy, thereby improving classroom management, student engagement, and overall academic success.

Artificial Intelligence in education: A comprehensive study

This comprehensive study delves into the multifaceted role of AI in education, exploring its applications, benefits, challenges, and future implications. The purpose of the study is to show how AI in education helps educators identify gaps in student knowledge and provide targeted feedback to improve learning outcomes. As a methodology, the library method and the study and review of various documents have been used in this research. The study examines the diverse range of AI technologies employed in educational settings, including intelligent tutoring systems, personalized learning platforms, educational chatbots, and virtual reality simulations. Furthermore, the study delves into the numerous benefits that AI brings to education. It highlights how AI-powered analytics and data-driven insights enable educators to gain deeper insights into student learning patterns, identify areas for improvement, and tailor instructional strategies accordingly. Additionally, AI-driven tools promote inclusivity by providing personalized support to learners with diverse needs and learning styles. Despite its transformative potential, the study also acknowledges the challenges and ethical considerations associated with integrating AI into education. Data privacy, algorithmic bias, and the digital divide are examined in detail, emphasizing the importance of responsible AI deployment and ethical guidelines. Looking ahead, the study explores the future implications of AI in education and the evolving role of educators in AI-enabled classrooms. It discusses how AI technologies will continue to evolve, offering new opportunities for collaborative learning, skill development, and lifelong education. In conclusion, this comprehensive study underscores the profound impact of AI on education and the need for thoughtful implementation strategies that prioritize equity, inclusivity, and ethical considerations. By harnessing the potential of AI, education systems can better prepare learners for the challenges and opportunities of the future.

Enhancing adult learner success in higher education through decision tree models: A machine learning approach

This article explores the use of machine learning, specifically Classification and Regression Trees (CART), to address the unique challenges faced by adult learners in higher education. These learners confront socio-cultural, economic, and institutional hurdles, such as stereotypes, financial constraints, and systemic inefficiencies. The study utilizes decision tree models to evaluate their effectiveness in predicting graduation outcomes, which helps in formulating tailored educational strategies. The research analyzed a comprehensive dataset spanning the academic years 2013–2014 to 2021–2022, evaluating the predictive accuracy of CART models using precision, recall, and F1 score. Findings indicate that attendance, age, and Pell Grant eligibility are key predictors of academic success, demonstrating the strong capability of the model across various educational metrics. This highlights the potential of machine learning (ML) to improve data-driven decision-making in educational settings. The results affirm the effectiveness of Decision Tree (DT) models in meeting the educational needs of adult learners and underscore the need for institutions to adapt their strategies to provide more inclusive and supportive environments. This study advocates for a shift towards nuanced, data-driven approaches in higher education, emphasizing the development of strategies that address the distinct challenges of adult learners, aiming to enhance inclusivity and support within the sector.