Journal Article

Teacher leadership and virtual communities: Unpacking teacher agency and distributed leadership

Abu-Tineh, Abdullah, Sellami, Abdellatif, Ghamrawi, Norma, Shal, Tarek, Al-Shaboul, Yousef M.

2024

Overview

This study explored the development of teacher leadership in collaborative online spaces, also called virtual communities of practice (vCoP). Employing a phenomenological research design with semi-structured interviews as the primary data collection method, participants were drawn from a single vCoP. The findings underscored the pivotal role of vCoPs in nurturing teacher leadership skills, facilitated by the dynamic interplay of teacher agency and distributed leadership. Teacher agency empowers educators to proactively take control of their learning journey within vCoPs, enabling them to explore areas of personal interest and expertise, including knowledge sharing and project initiation. Simultaneously, distributed leadership empowers teachers to assume leadership roles within the vCoP, irrespective of their formal positions or seniority, involving activities such as guiding discussions and organizing professional development. This harmonious collaboration between teacher agency and distributed leadership fosters a collaborative and inclusive environment within vCoPs, where teacher leadership thrive.

• Publisher: Springer US,Springer,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Active Learning / Collaboration / Communities of practice / Computer Appl. in Social and Behavioral Sciences / Computer Mediated Communication / Computer Science / Computers and Education / Department Heads / Education / Educational aspects / Educational Change / Educational leadership / Educational Strategies / Educational Technology / Empowerment / Expertise / Individual Needs / Influence of Technology / Information Systems Applications (incl.Internet) / Information Technology / Instructional Leadership / Interviews / Leaders / Leadership / Leadership Role / Leadership Training / Learner Engagement / Methods / Practice / Professional Development / Resource Allocation / School Culture / Social aspects / Social networks / Student Leadership / Teacher Background / Teacher Collaboration / Teacher education / Teacher Empowerment / Teacher Leadership / Teachers / Technology application / User Interfaces and Human Computer Interaction / Virtual nations