Teacher Leader - Research by Masters Students

This study concerns the exploration of fathers’ perceptions and performances of school-related care work in a senior all boys inner city DEIS primary school. The aims of the study are to examine participant fathers’ perceptions of and activity in traditional and non-traditional school related care roles for their sons. A qualitative case study was undertaken involving semi-structured interviews with eight participant fathers who all had sons attending the study school. Data concerning how daily school-related care-work was organised by participants’ families, was collected, analysed, and findings presented with reference to relevant literature. Research findings concurred with those from the literature that mothers, in general, are primarily responsible for educational care-work. Findings also showed that no two families organised in entirely the same manner. This demonstrated two separate factors affecting families, the seismic social changes which Irish society has witnessed during the last half century, and the deeply intersectional nature of Irish families. This research found that the roles of men in society, and men’s roles as fathers, have changed, reflecting wider changes in Irish society. Traditional patriarchal structures, while changed have not disappeared. Hegemonic masculinities continued to affect how men and women function in society, but, this research finds, the grip has loosened. Participant fathers reported practices and perceptions of school-related carework which were unlike those of their own fathers. Change has created opportunities for men, women, fathers, mothers and schools. This research presents policy recommendations for both school and state to best harness these social changes for the benefit of education. 

This study presents an investigation into the experiences of teachers in non-positional leadership roles in Irish primary schools. Non-positional leadership stems from the concept of teacher leadership, which provides teachers a means of acting strategically on one’s own vision leading to school improvement (Frost 2014). However, the Centre for School Leadership (CSL) in Ireland identifies teacher leadership as an area of the education system which is overlooked in comparison to other European countries (CSL 2018). This study utilised a qualitative, phenomenological design, employing the use of semistructured interviews as a means of data collection. The research participants consisted of eight primary school teachers who had experience of leadership in a non-positional capacity. The research provides an insightful account of non-positional leadership in Irish primary schools. The findings illustrate that teachers have predominantly positive dispositions towards non-positional leadership. It was revealed in the findings that nonpositional leadership benefited participants through further professional development and increased self-efficacy. School improvement and increased collaboration were also identified as positive results of non-positional leadership. However, it emerged from the findings that there is pressure on teachers who are recently qualified or on temporary contracts to partake in non-positional leadership roles as a means of securing future employment. The findings also suggest challenges and tensions for non-positional leaders in terms of increased workload and resistance from other members of staff. The findings from the investigation infer recommendations for schools, policymakers and further research. The study indicates the possibility for non-positional leadership to play some part of the Cosán framework being developed by the Teaching Council. Nonpositional leadership should also fall under the scope of the CSL. Through this, nonpositional leaders could be provided with appropriate professional development and support.

This dissertation set out to research how middle leaders identify with their role in post-primary schools. Middle leadership is a relatively new term in the Irish education system. There is a little research conducted on middle leadership in Ireland. The aim of the research is to understand the main operational and personal challenges experienced by school middle leaders, the personal characteristics that are necessary in completing the work of a middle leader and the reasons identified by school middle leaders that enable them to sustain and motivate their performance as school leaders. The research took place in DEIS post-primary schools in the Limerick Education and Training Board (ETB). Middle leaders in this area participated in semi-formal interviews. The study explored middle leaders’ views on middle leadership, the role of the middle leader, motivators of middle leaders and challenges of middle leaders. The research found that middle leaders required more time and adequate CPD for the role. Aspiring middle leaders need to immerse themselves in the school community and middle leaders require representation within the education community.

This research project examines what motivates teachers to choose to engage with the summer course programme as a form of Continuous Professional Development (CPD). It questions if teachers are encouraged to engage in reflective practice by principals prior to choosing a summer course. And it also examines what successful leaders are doing to facilitate reflective and collaborative practice, where teachers share knowledge gained through summer CPD to improve teaching and learning.  

The Talis Report (Gilleece et al., 2009) found that better schools for tomorrow will depend on school leadership that enables and supports teachers learning. As such, the principal has the capacity to play an integral role in supporting teacher CPD to improve teaching and learning. While teacher CPD is a right and responsibility of all teachers, it is currently not mandatory in Ireland. However, statistics from the Teacher Education Section (TES) show that participation rates in the summer course programme is extremely high. Therefore, it seems like an ideal opportunity for principals to guide and support teachers in choosing CPD for an individual or collective school need and would be an example of highly effective leadership as outlined in Looking At Our Schools (Department of Education and Skills, 2016a).

Evidence from this research shows that teachers consistently and actively engage with summer CPD and do so as a way of addressing a personal or professional need. Principal interest in summer CPD is uncommon, as is reflective practice, despite it being advocated for in academic literature and in the policies and reports by the Teaching Council (TC), Department Of Education (DE) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED). Teachers are open to sharing new knowledge they learn through summer CPD to improve teaching and learning and identify the principal as the person who can facilitate this. Facets of distributed and instructional leadership are a way in which a principal can transform the impact summer CPD has on teaching and learning.