How We Frame Teacher Leadership
The Penn State M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership program is organized around five strands of leadership (and accompanying competencies) that thread through and connect all parts of our program. Students will be exposed to the competencies for each strand through multiple means, including course readings, discussion groups, assignments, and field experiences, as well as multiples times in completing the program.
• Leadership as the exercise of responsible influence, recognizing its distributed and relational characteristics;
Core competencies: understanding the three domains of relational leadership knowledge and action-- the interpersonal, cognitive, and intrapersonal; planning to lead, learn, and reflect; and, assessing leader learning leadership.
• Leadership in understanding the internal organization of schools, as well as the wider connections with parents and the community;
Core competencies: connecting school organization, policy, and practices; understanding and developing linkages beyond the school; addressing diversity in the school and wider community; and understanding the moral and ethical dimensions of leadership.
• Leadership in support of on-going professional growth and development for teachers at varied professional stages;
Core competencies: facilitating professional learning communities, faculty study groups, etc.; developing professional portfolios; and developing and implementing instructional coaching and mentoring roles.
• Leadership in support of powerful curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices, especially culturally responsive approaches to teaching and learning; and,
Core competencies: developing deep pedagogical content knowledge and general curriculum knowledge; understanding and knowing when to apply different instructional approaches; understanding interdisciplinary curricula and the uses of technology to facilitate teaching and learning; developing an understanding of learning theory; understanding and developing different assessment practices and strategies and becoming proficient in analyzing and using data (evidence).
• Leadership as practice-based inquiry grounded in reflection and action research.
Core competencies: understanding how to conduct an action research project (from identifying the problem to developing the questions to identifying and collecting data, analyzing data, reaching conclusions, and evaluating the results); understanding the role of evidence in interpreting formal research; becoming proficient in analyzing and using data/evidence; and using action research as a means of facilitating continuous improvement.
We believe that these organizing principles provide a powerful means of revising the M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership option. The course changes proposed below reflect those beliefs.
