This book addresses the critical gaps among understandings of teacher leadership across organizational and cultural contexts. It challenges the use of the term teacher leadership as if there is a widely shared understanding of what it is and what it means for exercising influence and making decisions. The book describes how implicit meanings and competing assumptions about teacher leadership may contribute to uncertainty and confusion in school communities. The authors caution against the incorporation of teacher leadership in international policy making discussions without adequate consideration of contextual, organizational, historical, and cultural differences that may lead to school community members struggling to accommodate the concept or, worse, ignoring other frameworks for facilitating more culturally appropriate decision making.

This book shares the findings of research conducted in several North American, European, African, Latin-American, and Australasian contexts as part of the International Study of Teacher Leadership. Study findings are used to posit contextualized conceptualizations of teacher leadership and to offer a perspective for positioning researchers and practitioners in the international teacher leadership discourse.

Dr. Charles F. Webber is Professor in the Department of Education at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada. He is a teacher and researcher who served for the first half of his career as a classroom teacher and school principal in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada. Following a move to higher education, he has held appointments as a professor and dean in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. He also currently holds an honorary appointment as Buitengewone Professor at North West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa. His teaching and research interests focus on teacher leadership, the principalship, student assessment, and higher education administration and leadership.

Foreword.- Part I  Exploring Teacher Leadership.- Who is Interested in Teacher Leadership and Why?.- International Study of Teacher Leadership: A Rationale and Theoretical Framework.- Exploring Cross-Cultural Understandings of Teacher Leadership: A Phenomenographic Study.- Part II Contextualizing Teacher Leadership.- Linking Teacher Leadership to Instruction and Student Learning: A Systematic Review.- The Role of Teamwork in the Development of Teacher Leadership: A Cross-Cultural Analysis from Colombia, Mexico, and Spain.- Systems of Support for Teachers Collaboration and Leadership: EFL Teachers Experience in Morocco.- Tensions for Teacher Leaders: Insights from Document Analysis in Alberta, Canada.- Teacher Leadership in South Africa: The Power of Influence in Restoring Social Justice.- Teacher Leaders: A Challenge for Initial Teacher Education in Spain.- Teacher Leadership and School Improvement in Argentina: Why Is It Difficult... Why Is It Urgent?.- Teacher Leadership in the Moroccan Context: Perceptions and Practices.- Moving Teacher Leaders to the Front Line of School Improvement: Lessons Learned by One Australian Research and Development Team.- Part III Reflecting on Teacher Leadership.- Lessons Learned from Voices across the Globe.- Teacher Leaders: Cautions and Questions.