Teacher Leadership Interviews and Reflections

Ying Dai

Teacher leadership is important in teaching students, influencing

other teachers and even help transforming schools. Teacher leaders
may work in formal or informal positions, they may serve as different
kinds of leaders, but they are imperative to have good leadership skills
or characteristics. This reflection is of an interview conducted on
January 15, 2016, with Tony, a teacher of Beijing Royal School, China.
Tony is a science teacher and homeroom teacher of Grade 9 and
he also organizes Student Union. He is a mentor of a new teacher this
semester. He is not assigned the formal position to be any leader at
school, while what he did at school and the answers during this
interview show that he is already an excellent teacher leader.
Different people may have different understanding of teacher
leaders, from Tonys perspective, teacher leaders should develop from
good teachers, and they should commit to taking responsibility for
teaching and engaging students. If you want to be a teacher leader, try
to be a good teacher first. It is true that, only by teaching students
directly, you can know how to teach students and how to develop and
lead other teachers.

As teacher leaders, we should develop skills like communicating,

managing and collaborating with others. While, the most important
thing is to be full of passion. Tony said that it is difficult to deal with
adults, we do not have same background, experiences, and sometimes
teachers may have conflicts when dealing with students issues. What
we need is be patient and guide people to understand how things
should be done with. What s more, our passion will also influence
others to be positive.
I also agree with Tony that Passion + Persistence = Profit.
Passion will drive you to your dream; you also need persistence to
follow your dream, then your dream will come true (profit). Take A Plan
for Action for example; if we want to develop teacher leadership, we
need an individualized Action Plan for leadership. We should follow the
plan even when we are facing difficulties, we should persist on our own
plan then we will get closer to being good teacher leaders.
Another thing that impressed me is that it is not an easy thing to
teach others to find success. The experiences of being a mentor of a
new teacher make Tony reconsider himself again and again. Theres a
big difference between being a teacher leader himself and teaching
others to find success themselves. Before being a mentor, he did not
realize how to difficult to help new teachers in every aspect, he should
observe class, give feedback, talk to them when they are facing
problems. There are a lot to consider for new teachers development.

However, it is inspiring him try to be better.

Therefore, if we want to be great leaders, we should reflect on
ourselves and find effective ways to help teachers recognize that they
can be leaders. We should provide opportunities to develop leadership
skills. We cannot only be concerned with our own achievements rather
than others. It will not work in the long run. Great leaders find
satisfaction not only in teaching others but also in mentoring them to
become more than they ever believed they could. Great leaders have a
strong will to help people not for the return, but for the rewards it will
bring to the people they helped.
The last but not the least, as teacher leaders, we should always
feel willingness to learn. Teacher leaders are also continuous learners.
Learn how to improve oneself; learn how to conclude oneself and share
experience and resources to others; learn how to communicate with
others; how to be a good mentor to lead others to success. There is a
lot for us to learn to continue to be a good teacher leader. In addition,
it is not only the business of leaders; everyone has a responsibility to
support leaders and try to be a leader at the same time.
It is not the end of the journey to be a leader. Let us enjoy the
journey together.

Leadership Interview
Date of Interview: January 15, 2016
Time: 11:00-11:40 a.m.
Interviewer: Ying Dai
Interviewee: Tony
Question 1: How would you distinguish the difference between a good
teacher and a teacher leader?
Tony:

Good teachers who help students to understand and apply of

what are being taught; they also encourage students feel wiliness to
learn. To be a teacher leader is more than a good teacher. A teacher
leader is a high level of a good teacher. They should have broad
perspectives;

cooperate

others

to

work

together

and

good

management skills. They may make the final decision when dealing
with important issues or a particular situation in the workplace.
Question 2: How would you define your roles as a teacher leader?
Tony: My work includes not only teaching lessons but also lead
students of student union to organize Students Club Activities. In class,
I should be a good teacher first, and then I need to organize students
and make students ordered and also engaged in learning.
As a homeroom teacher, I must be familiar with how students feel,
they happy, sad or worry about something, I must communicate with
each students at appropriate time and also negotiate other subjects

teachers. It requires me to think through a whole class and also be

patient to every student.
About student union, I should guide the leaders of students to lead
other students to organize activities. It is not restricted in one person,
a class; it is about a whole grade and even the total students of the
school.
This semester, I also mentor a new teacher. Learn how to teach, how to
make class ordered, how to prepare one lesson is the basic things that
I should do. While, it is important that I should know how to deliver my
experience well. It is also a process to examine myself. I am also
learning from the new teacher.
Actually, I do not think I am a teacher leader before taking this
interview. I think that I am gradually changing to a teacher leader
when I teaching, when I organize activities, when I mentor a new
teacher. I am learning to be a teacher leader.
Question 3: What do you consider to be characteristics of a teacher
leader?
Tony: First, they should have the characteristics of a good teacher, like
classroom- management skills, make students eager to learn, take
responsibilities of students. To be effective leaders, they need
understanding self and understanding others; good communication
skills and management skills and how to assign different tasks to
different people; clear and focused judgment. The most important

thing is passion. They need passion plus persistence to do every thing

and pass this idea to other teachers at the same time. Passion +
Persistence = Profit. Whats more, they should be life leaner, whatever
leaders they are, they still need to learn to adapt to this changing
world.
Question 4: What are some of the greatest challenges of being a
teacher leader? What strategies have you used, or seen used by
others, to address these challenges?
Tony: In my option, being enthusiastic is important to be a teacher
leader, while it is also a challenge to be always enthusiastic and not
tempered enthusiasm. Sometimes, you may feel frustrated when
facing problems, but we should be positive. When you are feeling down
you should relax yourself and always show your positive and
enthusiasm to others. It is also difficult to deal with adults, we do not
have same background, experiences, what we need is be patient and
guide people to understand how things should be done with together.
Question 5: What skills have you learned over time that has helped
you be a more effective teacher leader?
Tony: To be a teacher leader, I should always improve myself even
though I can deal with some difficult issues, communicate well with
others and be enthusiastic all the time. I try to be a life learner to
adapt to this ever-changing world.
Question 6: How have you seen the role of teacher leaders change

over time and what are your predictions about the role in the future?
Tony: To be a teacher leader is not the end of the journey, it is also the
journey of learning. I appreciate the opportunity to help other people
reach their goals. It is important to me and I will try my best to develop
my lead skills and lead others to success too. I enjoy this journey no
matter what position it will be in the future.