Presentation at the Action Research Conference CARN-ALARA, Split 2019

1. UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG
BECOMING A TEACHER LEADER
AND EDUCATING OTHER TEACHER
LEADERS
CHRISTINA LÖFVING, UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG, HTTP://HDL.HANDLE.NET/2077/57757

2. UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG
Becoming a teacher leader
Teacher leader: Wenner & Campbell (2017) The study: Löfving (2018)

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The purpose of the study is to understand what enables and
limits teacher leaders in their work as teacher leaders, in order
to meet their needs during a course in teacher leadership.
Settings
35 teacher leaders
Upper Secondary School
Eight days of education during a period of one year. The study was conducted during five
moths during the first four occasions.
The purpose of the study
Löfving (2018)
The study: Löfving (2018)Teacher leader: Wenner & Campbell (2017)

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• How do the teacher leaders describe what is happening in the professional learning
communities (PLC) they are a part of at their school?
• How do the teacher leaders describe how they manage their assignment to function
as a teacher leader?
• What enables and what limits the teacher leaders in their work as teacher leaders?
• How does this change over a period of five moths?
A special focus was on how the education the teacher leaders attended made an
imapct on what they were describing.
Research questions

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• notes, so called self reports (22-31 teacher leaders at four occasions during a period
of five months)
• interviews (5 teacher leaders)
• logbook
Tools
Self report: Davidsson (2007)

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Sayings Doings
Relatings
Cultural-discursive
arrangements
Material-economic
arrangements
Social-political arrangements
Project
Kemmis och Grootenboer (2008, s. 57)
The Theory of Practice Architectures
Mahon, Kemmis, Francisco and Lloyd (2017)Kemmis and Grootenboer (2008)

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First occasion
Sayings
Wanting to have tools
to moderate the
discussions in the
PLC:s.
Doings
Wanting to learn
different models for
effective meetings.
Relatings
Wanting to
learn how to
stop negative
patterns.
Relatings
SayingsDoings

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Fourth, and last, occasion
Sayings
”I, as a teacher leader,
can affect the
discussions in the
PLC:s”
Doings
Active work to
develope the PLC:s.
Wanting to focus on
how to solve
problems.
Relatings
Wanting to involve
the collegues. Also
focusing on the
relationship
between the
teacher leader and
the principal.
Relatings
SayingsDoings

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Sayings Doings Relatings
Cultural-discursive
arrangements
• Self reflections and
discussions between the
teacher leaders
• Using models for
discussions in the PLC:s
Material-economic
arrangements
• Contracted time for the
PLC:s to meet
• Pronouncedly planning for
the year
• Time for development
Social-political
arrangements
• Colleagues and teacher
leaders talking through the
purpose of the meetings
• Having supporting
colleagues
• Description of what the
teacher leaders are
supposed to do.
• The principals presence and
absence

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• It is important for me as an educator to listen to the teacher leaders during their
education in order to take action.
• Teacher leadership is not something that is constant and and it can be a
complex situation being both a colleague and a leader.
• It is important for teachers to listen to and discuss what other teacher leaders
reflect on.
• Teacher leaders in this study want to be a part of a network focusing on their
assignments.
• It is important for teacher leaders and principals to find ways to collaborate.
The contribution of this study

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Davidsson, B. (2007). Self report – att använda skrivna texter som redskap. In J. Dimenäs (Ed.), Lära till lärare. Att
utveckla läraryrket – vetenskapligt förhållningssätt och vetenskaplig metodik. (pp. 70–81). Stockholm: Liber.
Kemmis, S., & Grootenboer, P. (2008). Situating practice in praxis. In S. Kemmis & T. J. Smith (Eds.), Enabling Praxis.
Challenges for Education (pp. 37-62). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Löfving, C. (2018). Lärare som leder sina kollegor. En aktionsforskningsstudie om möjligheter och begränsningar i
mellanledaruppdraget (Master thesis). Göteborg: Göteborgs Universitet.
Mahon, K., Kemmis, S., Francisco, S., & Lloyd, A. (2017). Introduction: Practice Theory and the Theory of Practice
Architectures. I K. Mahon, S. Francisco & S. Kemmis (Red.), Exploring Education and Professional Practice. Through
the Lens of Practice Architectures (pp. 1-30). Singapore: Springer Nature.
Wenner, J. A., & Campbell, T. (2017). The theoretical and empirical basis of teacher leadership: A review of the
literature. Review of Educational Research, 87(1), 134-171.
References

12. UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG
Christina Löfving
christina.lofving@gu.se
http://hdl.handle.net/2077/57757