Thomas Moore's Developing Teacher Leaders By Frank Crowther

In a perfect world no schools would be labeled academically unacceptable, no administrators or teachers would be relieved of their duties, and no students would be left behind. Education, as an industry, would be flush with the best and brightest students universities had to offer and those stepping out of the world of academia into the world of education would be prepared to the fullest to take on the charge of educating our youth. Social justice being practiced at every turn, we would establish a system where discourse becomes the primary mechanism for learning, and ethics are the sole foundation for academic policy making.

Just take a second to bask in that vision. Thomas Moore in Utopia could not have painted a more beautiful picture.

And while each of the six elements are important perhaps none is as important as the first, “Teacher leaders convey conviction about a better world.” (Crowther, 2008) Perhaps the single greatest ill to plague educators today is the deficit thinking that strips them of hope for their students’ and their schools’ success. “My pupils live in ‘this’ district, and go to ‘this’ school so their ceiling for academic growth lies here.” “Well of course they are academically unacceptable, have you seen our socio-economic status?” While these quotes may not be attributed to anyone individual the sentiment that drives them are pervasive in our education system today, and in particularly the district to which we find ourselves employed. Deficit thinking that places external caps on student production, and teacher ingenuity, is the greatest barrier to achieving success. Crowther ends his discussion of element one by saying, “we have been struck by the clarity of the values aspects of these teacher’s lives, and also by their sense of confidence regarding the power of schools and the teaching profession to shape lives.” (Crowther, 2008, p. 13) For Crowther, the first step in creating a successful school is recruiting or nurturing teacher leaders to unfalteringly share the same vision. That vision must be that all students can succeed,

Empowerment is a contemporary buzzword in educational circles as leaders attempt to coax the absolute best effort from those below them on the hierarchy. In Salsa, Soul, and Sprit, Juana Bordas (2012) draws on the cultural phenomena found with communities of divergent ethnicities to illustrate this point. In one particular section while addressing the collective leadership styles observed in many African American communities she surmised, “Collaborative leadership transforms the I orientation of hierarchal leadership to a group-centered or We orientation. Instead of supplying all the answers, the collaborative leader creates an environment that promotes teamwork and learning together.” (Bordas, 2012, p. 80) For Bordas, the leader who can ensure that all individuals collectively own their stake in the education process confirms each and every voice and allows for equity to flourish. Collective, collaborative working environments allow for differences and diversity to be seen not as a threat to the autonomy of an individual but rather a fresh perspective that will make the environment richer and more