Minnesota State University Moorhead RED: a Repository of Digital Collections Dissertations, Theses, and Projects Graduate Studies Spring 5-14-2021 The Effects of a Shared Vision of Teacher Leadership on Classroom Teachers’ Instruction Tiffany Bockelmann bd1516uf@go.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://red.edu/thesis Part of the Educational Leadership Commons Researchers wishing to request an accessible version of this PDF may complete this form. Recommended Citation Bockelmann, Tiffany, "The Effects of a Shared Vision of Teacher Leadership on Classroom Teachers’ Instruction" (2021). Dissertations, Theses, and Projects.edu/thesis/470 This Dissertation (799 registration) is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at RED: a Repository of Digital Collections. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Projects by an authorized administrator of RED: a Repository of Digital Collections.
For more information, please contact RED@mnstate. Running head: SHARED VISION OF TEACHER LEADERHSIP The Effects of a Shared Vision of Teacher Leadership on Classroom Teachers’ Instruction By Tiffany Bockelmann B. University of Minnesota, Morris, MN M. Minnesota State University Moorhead, Moorhead, MN A Dissertation Proposal Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION Dissertation Committee: Michael Coquyt, Ed., Committee Chair Julie Swaggert, Ed.
Reggie Engebritson, Ed. D Christopher Larson Minnesota State University, Moorhead Moorhead, MN December 2020 SHARED VISION OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP ii Copyright © Tiffany Bockelmann 2020. All rights reserved. SHARED VISION OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP iii The Effects of a Shared Vision of Teacher Leadership on Classroom Teachers’ Instruction By Tiffany Bockelmann has been approved APPROVED: Michael Coquyt, Ed., Committee Chair Julie Swaggert, Ed.
Reggie Engebritson, Ed. Christopher Larson ACCEPTED AND SIGNED: ______________________________________________ DR. MICHAEL COQUYT, ED. ______________________________________________ Ok-Hee Lee, Ph.
Dean, College of Education and Human Services SHARED VISION OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP iv Dedication This dissertation is dedicated first and foremost, to my husband, Travis. While I can’t promise this is the last of my papers you’ll be reading, I can’t thank you enough for your support, numerous sacrifices, patience, and steadfast love. This is not just my accomplishment but an endeavor we weathered together. Second, to my beautiful daughters: Julianna, Lillian, Christina, and Brielle.
You have been so patient and understanding as I spent many precious hours of your childhood studying, researching, and writing. What started as a mission to make education better for you close to home developed into an opportunity to have a much larger impact. As strong women, I hope you realize you can do anything you put your mind to, and even the sky is not a limit. To my parents, Bruce and Darlene, my first teachers: My success is a testament of your success as loving and supportive parents.
Thank you for instilling in me a sense of tenacity to see things through, strong work ethic to do them well, and the importance of doing what’s right even if it’s difficult. And to my siblings, Paul and Kadie, for the humor to get me through and your encouragement and support. And finally, to all of my family and friends, past and present, who have supported and encouraged me on this journey. Leadership is a choice, but not one that can be successful without people to learn from, be inspired by, and to serve.
I am truly humbled by the support I’ve received. SHARED VISION OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP v Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr. Michael Coquyt, Dr. Julie Swaggert, and Dr.
Boyd Bradbury for the opportunity to study at MSUM throughout my Master’s degree, licensure programs, and this Doctoral program. In his first book, Dr. Bradbury (2020) wisely stated, “One’s success, while partly due to our own choices, is not accomplished alone, but is influenced by those with whom we associate and to whom we choose to listen.” I could not have met and been guided by a better, kinder, wiser, group of professors. Without their support, encouragement, and kindness I would not have the opportunity to make these achievements and become the leader I am today.
I am grateful for their time and our close relationships that have developed over the years. I would like to thank my committee members for their thoughtful feedback. I would also like to thank the participants of this study for their candid conversations and allowing me to learn from their experiences. Finally, I would like to thank the members of my cohort, whom I have the honor of calling friends, for being a supportive team.
SHARED VISION OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication. v Table of Contents. vi List of Figures. x List of Tables.
xii Chapter 1: Introduction Background of the Study. 5 Need for the Study. 6 Purpose of the Study. 10 Significance of the Study.
13 Definition of Terms. 18 Chapter 2: Literature Review Introduction. 20 Methods of Searching. 20 Theoretical Orientation for the Study.
22 Development of Roles. 30 Review of Literature. 31 Defining the Role of Teacher Leader. 32 Outcomes of Teacher Leadership.
36 Perspectives and Structures of Teacher Leadership. 38 The Influence of Principals. 40 Developing Role Coherence. 41 Developing Culture to Support Role Enactment.
51 Reflections of Teacher Leaders Upon Their Roles. 52 Teacher Leaders’ Responses to Role Coherence. 52 Teacher Leaders’ Responses to a Culture of Support for Teacher Leader Roles. 60 Reflections of Teachers on Teacher Leadership.
61 Teachers’ Responses to Role Coherence. 62 Teachers’ Responses to a Culture of Support for Teacher Leader Roles. 63 SHARED VISION OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP vii Summary. 66 Synthesis of the Research Findings.
67 Critique of Previous Research Methods. 72 Chapter 3: Methodology Introduction. 73 Purpose of the Study. 81 Protection of Participants.
88 Role of the Researcher. 88 Previous Knowledge and Bias. 93 Chapter 4: Findings Introduction. 96 Description of Sample.
98 Research Methodology Applied to the Data Analysis. 99 Presentation of Data and Results of the Analysis. 102 Identification of Teacher Leadership Roles. 102 Rationale of the Teacher Leadership System.
103 Status of Teacher Leaders. 115 SHARED VISION OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP viii High School Findings. 116 Identification of Teacher Leadership Roles. 116 Rationale of the Teacher Leadership System.
117 Status of Teacher Leaders. 120 Ownership and Relevance. 134 Chapter 5: Discussion, Implications, and Conclusion Introduction. 135 Summary of Results.
136 Discussion of the Results. 139 Conclusions Based on the Results. 140 Comparison of the Findings with the Framework. 141 Role Theory and Elementary Findings.
142 Role Theory and High School Findings. 143 Summary Based on Role Theory. 146 Comparison of the Findings with Previous Literature. 147 Role of the Principal.
149 Perspective of Teacher Leaders. 153 Perspective of Teachers. 155 Summary Based on Previous Literature. 156 Interpretation of the Findings.
157 Interpretations from the Literature. 162 Implications of the Study. 163 Recommendations for Future Research. 171 SHARED VISION OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP ix Summary.
178 Appendix A: Interview Questions. 192 Appendix B: Elementary Open Codes, Criteria, and Participant Responses. 195 Appendix C: High School Open Codes, Criteria, and Participant Responses. 1959 SHARED VISION OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP x List of Figures Figure 1: Basic Teacher Leadership Model.
7 Figure 2: Factors Influencing a Coherent System of Teacher Leadership. 9 Figure 3: A Coherent System of Teacher Leadership and its Impacts on Teacher’s Instructional Choices. 12 Figure 4: Anderson’s (2004) Leadership Reciprocity Models. 39 Figure 5: Participant Flowchart.
80 Figure 6: Elementary Coherence Flowchart. 108 Figure 7: High School Coherence Flowchart. 123 SHARED VISION OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP xi List of Tables Table 1: Change Orientations. 28 Table 2: Participant Demographics.
99 Table 3: Elementary Participants’ Responses to Purpose of the Teacher Leadership System. 104 Table 4: Axial Coding: Elementary Themes derived from Open Codes. 109 Table 5: High School Participants’ Responses to Purpose of the Teacher Leadership System 118 Table 6: Axial Coding: High school Themes derived from Open Codes. 124 SHARED VISION OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP xii Abstract Many models of instructional teacher leadership exist in schools with various outcomes for teachers.
The aim of this case study was to understand systemic alignment in a formal teacher leadership system and how this alignment impacted instructional change. This dissertation was framed by three research questions: 1) How do the rationales of teachers, teacher leaders, and administrators regarding teacher leadership in their school align? 2) How does the coherence of a system of leadership impact classroom teachers’ abilities to engage with formal teacher leaders? 3) How does the coherence of a system of leadership impact classroom teachers’ abilities to implement instructional changes? A qualitative case study was conducted utilizing semi-structured interviews in one rural school in Minnesota. The participants included one K–12 principal, two high school teacher leaders, two high school teachers, two elementary teacher leaders, and two elementary teachers, and a district Q Comp Coordinator. Role theory (Biddle 1979; Katz & Kahn, 1978; & Turner, 2002) was the theoretical framework used to analyze the data.
The findings yielded two scenarios: The elementary in which systemic alignment and a positive engaging culture was associated with the teachers’ willingness to implement instructional change; and the high school in which a slight variation in the shared vision regarding ownership rendered role conflict, periods of teacher-teacher leader disengagement, and teacher instructional changes dependent upon feelings of ownership and relevance. SHARED VISION OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP 1 Chapter 1: Introduction Background of the Study Teachers have the most impact on students’ educational outcomes (Lumpkin et al., 2014; McKenzie & Locke, 2014; Darling-Hammond, 2000). Therefore, it is imperative that students are exposed to teachers who stay current with best pedagogical practices, changing cultural demands, social emotional learning research, and rigorous 21st century academic and career- ready standards. However, a very complex problem has loomed: How do educational leaders provide the necessary professional development to accomplish these lofty goals with a vast array of teachers of all ages, experiences, beliefs, and content areas, each with their own classrooms of students with just as varied needs? To further complicate the problem, there has been a sense of global urgency as economic, social, and political issues arise, budgets become more limited, and teachers are leaving the field.
Principals cannot shoulder this complex responsibility alone, and outside consultants cannot possibly understand the needs of every student or teacher. One solution is to leverage the knowledge, skills, and wills of teachers in the leadership of schools and implementation of job-embedded professional development. The rationales, roles, and ways in which these teacher leaders interact with colleagues has evolved over the last 40 years. Beginning in the early 1980’s, primarily administrative or managerial roles, such as department chairs and union leaders, emerged as leadership positions for teachers.
In the mid to late 1980s, merit pay systems and career ladder programs emerged, designed to leverage the pedagogical expertise and social capital of teachers to act as instructional leaders. Finally, from the late 1980s and early 1990s to today, in response to unprecedented pressure for accountability through legislation such as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 and changing student populations, teacher leaders have been utilized to change the SHARED VISION OF TEACHER LEADERSHIP 2 cultures of the schools and carry forward educational reform all while emphasizing collaboration and reflection among colleagues (Silva et al. The roles of teacher leaders are historically and presently varied, complex, context specific, and often result in mixed outcomes for students, teachers, and teacher leaders themselves (Wenner & Campbell, 2017). The clarity and purpose of teacher leadership roles was cited as a problem and point of attention throughout the literature on teacher leadership (Bagley & Margolis, 2018; Cooper et al., 2016; Coquyt, 2019; Liethwood et al., 2007; Lumpkin et al., 2014; Mangin, 2005; Margolis & Doring, 2012; Mckenzie & Locke, 2014; Struyve et al.