NewLeaders_Untapped

Annie is a seasoned and well-respectedteacher leader in her large, urban schooldistrict, where officials routinely askher to attend conferences and deliverspeeches on values and practice. A highlyeffective fifth-grade teacher, she sits ondistrict committees focused on teacherleadership and development. She mentorsnew teachers at her school, and can splither time between her own classroom andcoaching her colleagues.But she feels “negative and burned out”by it all, she said. No one has ever toldher why she was asked to serve as aleader, much less what effective teacherleadership should entail.“It’s this great idea, teacher leadership,”Annie said. “But a lot of the experiencesI’ve had are random things that I’ve beenrecommended for, and I don’t really knowwhat I’m supposed to do.”The training she’s received during offsitesummer sessions and monthly check-ins“felt totally separate from my work atschool,” she said. “It’s a lot of talking at us.I can’t even remember it enough to explainit. It felt like there was something specificthat should have been happening, butnobody knew what it was.”But during breaks in those meetings,she’s glimpsed a better way: talking withother teacher leaders to reflect on sharedchallenges and trade successful strategiesbased on their diverse experiences. It’scrowd-sourced coaching—and “moremeaningful than any of the PD that mydistrict has provided me with.”“This is just how learning works,” shesaid. “This is how people develop skills forany job. You figure out how to do it, youpractice, you have a mentor who helpswith reflection and practice, and thenyou figure out your mistakes and whatyou are going to do differently next time.Whether you are a teacher, or a principal,or a nurse, that is how anyone learns tomaster any kind of job.”