Exploring the potential for teacher enactment of instructional and transformational leadership: Factors, dispositions, and practices

This paper presents the findings from a study of 3343 teachers of 96 Singapore schools. Through a structural equation modelling analysis, we seek to identify the sociological factors for teacher leadership in the enactment of instructional and transformational leadership among rank-and-file teachers. From the findings, we seek to offer an alternative view to predominant beliefs that receptivity to teacher leadership is mediated by intrinsic factors (i.e. personality related dispositions). Findings suggest high power distance Asian education culture functions as an extrinsic factor (i.e. contextually based structure), thereby influencing teacher receptivity towards integrating formative pedagogies with outcomes-based teaching. In comparison, the effect of individually predisposed power distance upon teacher leadership in changing instructional practices may be much more tentative. We hope to gather feedback from roundtable participants on possible improvements in teacher professional learning communities that will bring about enhancements in teacher leadership, in particular, with regard to instructional and transformational leadership.