Nurturing Sustainable Teachers’ Leadership Culture: Possibilities, Challenges, Stakeholders’ Behavior Analysis in the Context of Pakistan

Abstract

In the current era, educational leadership is gradually being shifted from individual heroism to collective, shared, distributed leadership styles. It is believed that the role of a teacher should not be limited to the classroom only, but teachers’ interest in leadership role isn’t appreciable for their effective contribution during preparation of schools’ plans and policies. Similarly, the stakeholders’ behavioral approaches also create many challenges that include; the schools’ organizational structure, the silence of the literature to highlight the exemplary shared leadership practices, the culture of internal and external capacity building that supports the development of shared leadership over time, a set of applicable suggestions about distribution of school-based daily activities among teacher-leaders and existing leadership. The stated gaps should be bridged to promote teachers’ leadership culture through their empowerment and may form a discussion forum initiated at state level for integration of shared leadership practices in the states’ managed and other educational institutions in the country such as Pakistan. Since, the schools in Pakistan are highly diversified. Due to the variation in the nature and type style of educational management of each type has its own set of problems, challenges and strengths. These stakeholders are not yet realized that shared leadership approaches are far better than the idealism and heroism. For this purpose, some initiatives are being suggested for nurturing the sustainable teachers’ leadership culture in the educational institutions that include; the legislation in the Organizational Registration Acts, a comprehensive study of the current practices of public & private schools’ systems and preparation of a strategic plan for gradual nurturing of the shared leadership in Pakistani schools.

Keywords: Teachers Leadership, Education, Teaching, Schools, Educational Institutes