Teacher leadership in Ukraine: The role of teachers in school management and professional development

Abstract

This book chapter presents the current situation with teacher leadership in Ukraine. The authors focus on the connection of teacher leadership with shool autonomy, forming school culture and professional development experiences of teachers. Professional development refers to activities that advance teachers’ skills and knowledge, with the ultimate aim of fostering teacher leadership. The presented research was based on the results of the All-Ukrainian Monitoring Survey of Secondary School Teachers and Principals with the use of TALIS methodology. Research was conducted by the Ukrainian Educational Research Association. The monitoring survey was a part of the Teacher Project within the big scale project “Educational Reform: Quality Assessment in the International Context” realized by Ukrainian Step by Step Foundation with the support of Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and Porticus. For comparison, the average data of the international TALIS 2013 survey was given. The article concludes with a discussion useful for policy-makers, school leaders and teachers. The material demonstrates how complex teacher leadership is and how powerfully it can influence all the aspects of school life.