Abstract:
Teacher leadership is one of the key concepts for curriculum delivery in
schools and it gives Post Level 1 (PL1) teachers a chance to lead. This
study builds on teacher leadership and contributes to knowledge in the
field of Educational Leadership. Although a number of studies have
examined school leadership, there has been limited studies that focus
on teacher leadership (Grant, 2010:416) towards creating and
maintaining a culture of learning and teaching (COLT) in the classroom
and school. Based on this lack of focus, there is a need to investigate
teacher leadership in creating and maintaining COLT and to contribute
to knowledge in this field. The study focuses on investigating the
experiences of PL1 teachers towards COLT, their leadership practices,
challenges and how they address these challenges. The study is
underpinned by Grant’s (2010:409) theory on teacher leadership that
argues that PL1 teachers can lead both inside and outside the
classroom. Qualitative data was generated through interviews and
observation. Three secondary schools were sampled from Tshwane
South district of the Gauteng province. Thirteen PL1 teachers
participated in this study. It was found that PL1 teachers play a key
leadership role in creating and maintaining COLT. Teachers develop their
colleagues in school activities and also lead communities. The study further
shows that as the teachers executed their leadership roles, they experience
challenges such as ill-disciplined learners, shortage of resources and a lack of
parental involvement in schools. These findings may assist both the
Department of Education and schools to improve their practices with the
purpose of supporting teacher-leaders to create and maintain COLT.
Furthermore, the study recommends guidelines for effective teacher
leadership towards creating and maintaining COLT which could be
included in in-service teacher training.
