Teachers as Leaders - Educators and the Need for Teacher Leadership in a Changing World

Oct 15, 2026

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Teachers as Leaders examines why educators in the United States are being asked to do more with less amid tightening school budgets, anxious learning environments, and large management pressures. It analyzes world change drivers—shifting family structures, globalization’s economic demands, privatization in government and public life, and demographic shifts affecting students and teachers. The essay contrasts a fundamentalist response focused on standardization and external sanctions with a cosmopolitan response that values teacher expertise and professional community-based accountability.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Teachers as Leaders

Changes in the World

Changes in the Economy

Changes in Government and Public Life

Changes in Demographics

The Case for Teacher Leadership

Teachers as Leaders by Ann Lieberman and Lynne Miller EducatorsintheUnitedStatesarebeingaskedtodomorewithless:school budgetsareshrinking, principalsarestrugglingtobe instructional leaders inthe faceofhugemanagementissues,andteachersaretryingtomeettheneedsofincreasinglydiversestudentsatatimewhenastandardized,one-size-fits-allcurriculumismandated.Thetenorofschoolsandclassroomsisoneofanxiety,stress,and confusion,andatitsworst,hopelessness.Whyisthishappening?Whatisgoingonintheworldthatisaffectingschools,teaching,andlearninginsuchprofoundways? Changes in the World Giddens (2002) wrote persuasively about how basic changes create tensions between fundamentalism and cosmopolitanism. As communities and nations encounter economic and social changes, there is conflict between those who believe in a set of unchanging rules about how the world was created and how life should be lived, and those who believe that change brings diversity and offers opportunities for variety and improvement. For example, in the United States and the restofthe world, family structures are influx. Alternative family structures are challenging long-held beliefs about the nuclear family as the model of how children should be raised in industrialized countries: who can raise them, and where and at what age their education and upbringing should to take place. Conventional roles are being altered, if not reversed. Grandparents are often primary caretakers; same sex partners are increasingly parenting the young; and women are working in high-powered positions while more men are becoming homemakers. Such changes threaten the world that many adults know and lead them to take opposing views on how to deal with the new realities. Changes in the Economy Globalization is the word of the day, and the economy is the sector of society most immediately affected. The emerging economy demands a new view of work and career. Instead of holding a job for life, workers are expected to change jobs and careers and to The Educational Forum •Volume 69 • Winter 2005 • 151 Lieberman and Miller switch loyalties several times in their lives (Mazar 1999, 19) . There will continue to be a decline in the need for manual laborers and an expansion in the demand for knowledge workers. A high school diploma will no longer be a guarantee of a job or a career; postsecondary education will become a necessity for all. Schools must adapt to the changing economy if they are to educate a citizenry prepared for the future. People used to go to school because the knowledge was there. Now, however, school is losing its monopoly on learning. Online courses and virtual schools make education accessible from one’s living room. Public schools must make the case that they are the institutions best situated to teach students to think critically, evaluate information, and participate as full citizens in a democracy. Changes in Government and Public Life Globalization also is having powerful effects on government and public life. The language of the corporate and private sector ethos in the public domain has led to a view that government is the purchaser, rather than the provider, of direct services. This has affected the changing norms of public responsibility, evident in decreased public engagement, lower voter turnout, calls to reduce taxes, and a shift in responsibility between the state and family in meeting the needs of the young. Schools are feeling pressure to shift from public to private sector norms. Standardized assessments and top-down accountability systems are forcing public education to pay more attention to test scores, which can be tallied, than to the cultivation of learning, which isnot so amenable to measurement. Charter schools, magnet schools, home schooling, and vouchers are part of the agenda to reduce the role of government in what traditionally has been part of the public sphere. Schools must figure out how to serve a public mission in a world of increasing privati

FAQs

Why are educators under increasing pressure to do more with less?

Educators face shrinking budgets, principals struggling as instructional leaders, and teachers trying to meet the needs of increasingly diverse students while standardized one-size-fits-all curricula are mandated.

How does globalization affect schools and public life?

Globalization influences how government and public services are viewed, contributing to lower public engagement and voter turnout, changing responsibility between the state and family, and increasing pressure for schools to adopt private-sector norms.

What are the two main responses to these changes, according to the essay?

One response is a fundamentalist stance emphasizing standardization, external accountability, and externally administered rewards and sanctions. The other is a cosmopolitan rejoinder supporting policies that enable good practice, recognize teacher knowledge, and strengthen incentives for professional growth through teacher communities.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by moss~