Teacher leadership (TL) has undergone significant transformation as educational reforms continue to reshape the responsibilities and influence of classroom educators. Historically, educational policy decisions have overlooked teachers’ voices, leaving them subject to top-down mandates while holding them accountable for implementation outcomes. This phenomenological study explored how teacher leaders in a large suburban high school in Southeast Texas in the United States perceive the evolution and future of their roles within Silva et al.’s (2000) framework of transitional waves of teacher leadership. Participants included ten teachers identified through purposeful sampling, representing both formally titled leaders and those demonstrating leadership behaviors as identified by campus administrators. Data were collected through semi-structured, web-based interviews and analyzed using hermeneutical phenomenology to interpret emerging themes related to empowerment, hierarchy, and collaboration. Findings revealed that while the evolution from managerial to collaborative leadership provided greater agency, systemic hierarchies continue to constrain teachers’ influence on policy and practice. Participants emphasized the need for a “fourth wave” of teacher leadership—one that recognizes educators as autonomous leaders capable of guiding reform from within the classroom while maintaining instructional relevance. This study contributes to the growing discourse on teacher empowerment by highlighting the lived experiences of TLs navigating educational structures and offers implications for fostering sustainable, collaborative leadership models within schools.

Authors:
Diane Johnson, Lamar University, United States
Kelly Brown, Texas & M University Corpus Christi, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Diane Johnson is an Assistant Professor at Lamar University in the United States of America with a research focus on building teacher leaders and adapting the role of teacher leaders in current leadership hierarchies.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/diane-johnson-edd-0b486041

See this presentation on the full schedule – Tuesday Schedule

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