Becoming and Being a Leader: One Teacher's Story

• In Event: Shifting Stories, Shifting Landscapes

Abstract

Since the alteration of our sense of normalcy due to COVID-19, school district leaders, teachers, parents, and students have improvised and made the best of the situation. Teacher leaders have risen up and found solutions to new problems during this period of radical discontinuity. Teachers who view themselves as leaders seek answers, propose solutions, and take ownership of the school’s successes and failures expanded beyond their classroom (Danielson, 2007; Helterbran, 2010). This study delves into discovering lived experiences that influenced teacher leadership self-identity (teachers' perceptions, certainty, and importance of themselves as leaders [or not]) and teachers' leadership orientation by exploring teachers' stories of their professional development occurring between earning their initial teaching licensure and the spring of 2020.

Authors

• Michelle Buchanan, University of Central Arkansas

• Dixie K. Keyes, Arkansas State University