The Sensemaking Experience of Newly Appointed District Teacher Leader Coordinators

233 Pages·2016·2.98 MB·English

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Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences College of Education
2016
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Jill L. Janes
University of Kentucky, [email protected]
Digital Object Identifier: http://dx.doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2016.316
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Janes, Jill L., "The Sensemaking Experience of Newly Appointed District Teacher Leader Coordinators: A
Case Study" (2016). Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences. 15.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/edsc_etds/15
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Jill L. Janes, Student
Dr. John Nash, Major Professor
Dr. Robert Shapiro, Director of Graduate Studies
THE SENSEMAKING EXPERIENCE OF
NEWLY APPOINTED DISTRICT TEACHER LEADER COORDINATORS:
A CASE STUDY

______________________________________________

DISSERTATION
______________________________________________

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the
College of Education
at the University of Kentucky

By
Jill L. Janes

Ames, Iowa

Director: Dr. John Nash, Associate Professor

of Educational Leadership Studies

Lexington, Kentucky

2016

Copyright© Jill L. Janes 2016
ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION

THE SENSEMAKING EXPERIENCE OF
NEWLY APPOINTED DISTRICT TEACHER LEADER COORDINATORS:
A CASE STUDY

In an effort to address diverse needs in K-12 education, policymakers have
proposed initiatives to increase the leadership opportunities for classroom teachers.
Although teachers have undertaken leadership roles in schools throughout history, the
notion of teacher leadership spurred by policy is in the emergent stages. As educators and
leaders in various roles implement teacher leadership policy, learning must ensue at both
an individual and collective level to adapt schools to a new model of leadership.

This study examined how district-level teacher leader coordinators in one Iowa
region came to understand their role as leaders. A case study approach illuminated the
experience of these individuals as Iowa teacher leadership policy was initially
implemented. Data were collected through the use of interviews, observations, and
document reviews. Participants included district-level teacher leader coordinators and
regional leaders supporting teacher leadership to gain insights from multiple levels of
policy implementation.

The findings of this study identified themes for sensemaking and leading within
the teacher leader coordinator’s role. The study revealed that coordinators were guided in
learning their new teacher leadership roles through both formal policy guidance and
informal interactions with leaders and peers. Coordinators enacted their leadership roles
in a bridge building capacity, linking other teacher leaders to resources and modeling
leadership processes and actions.

KEYWORDS: Teacher Leadership, Distributed Leadership, Policy Implementation,
Organizational Learning Theory, Community of Practice
___Jill L. Janes__________________
Student Signature

__7-25-2016____________________
Date
THE SENSEMAKING EXPERIENCE OF
NEWLY APPOINTED DISTRICT TEACHER LEADER COORDINATORS:
A CASE STUDY

By

Jill L. Janes

____John Nash__________________
Director of Dissertation

___Robert Shapiro_______________
Director of Graduate Studies

______________________________
To educators who are willing to bravely lead the way.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Completing this dissertation has been a personal journey made possible by the
guidance, support, and insights of many. I would like to thank my husband, Geoff, for
never doubting that I could accomplish what I set my mind to do. Your patience, listening
ear, and extra help keeping our life in order helped me to stay focused on the research
process and persist to the end. We took every step of this journey together! To my
daughters, Grace and Madelyn, you provide the inspiration to follow a dream, take a risk,
and be the best I can be each day. I hope that you both will one day grow to find a
passion of your own and remember that you are never finished learning. I would also like
to thank all of my family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers who have encouraged my
work and supported my family to help me achieve this goal.
I thank my dissertation chair, Dr. John Nash, for providing the knowledge,
insights, and coaching to help me complete my research. The feedback and perspective
you brought to each of our discussions, from potential research topics to drafts of this
work, pushed me to grow in my own thinking. You are truly a mentor who helped to
build my confidence in my abilities as well as my knowledge and skill set as a researcher
and writer.
I would also like to thank my dissertation committee, Dr. Tricia Browne-Ferrigno,
Dr. Les Burns, and Dr. Jayson Richardson. Your collective wisdom and guidance has
continued to assist me in improving my work. Next, I thank the University of Kentucky
professors of Educational Leadership for helping me to think critically and challenging
my understandings as both an educator and a researcher. To my fellow UKSTL cohort
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members, I thank you all for serving as cheerleaders and critical friends. I cannot imagine
the experience without you, and I wish you all the best in your own adventures.
Finally, I would like to thank the educators who shared their story with me for this
research. Your passion and commitment to students and fellow educators is ever
inspiring. I am proud to be an Iowa educator alongside you all.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................. iii

List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... ix

List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... x

Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1
Teacher Leadership ......................................................................................................... 1
The Role of Educational Policy in Advancing Teacher Leadership ........................... 2
Factors Influencing Policy Implementation ................................................................ 4
Leading Policy Adoption ............................................................................................ 5
Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................ 6
Purpose and Significance of the Study ........................................................................... 7
Research Questions ......................................................................................................... 8
Methodology ................................................................................................................... 9
Potential Study Limitations........................................................................................... 10
Definition of Key Terms ............................................................................................... 11
Summary ....................................................................................................................... 12

Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................................................ 14
Teacher Leadership ....................................................................................................... 15
Practices and Roles of Teacher Leadership .............................................................. 17
The Changing Face of Contemporary School Leadership ............................................ 19
Distributed Leadership .............................................................................................. 23
Leadership Tasks and Tunctions. .......................................................................... 23
Leadership Task Enactment. ................................................................................. 24
Social and Situational Distribution of Task Enactment. ....................................... 25
Teacher Leadership In Practice ..................................................................................... 27
Benefits of Teacher Leadership ................................................................................ 27
Barriers to Teacher Leadership ................................................................................. 29
Fostering Teacher Leadership ................................................................................... 31
System-wide Teacher Leadership ............................................................................. 33
Teacher Professionalization .......................................................................................... 34
Teacher Professionalization: A Historical Lens ....................................................... 34
Teacher Professionalization through Policy ............................................................. 36
Entering the Teaching Profession. ........................................................................ 36
Measuring the Teaching Profession. ..................................................................... 38
Leading theTeaching Profession. .......................................................................... 39
Summary of Literature Reviewed ................................................................................. 41
Conceptual Framework ................................................................................................. 43
Policy Implementation .............................................................................................. 43
Sensemaking in Policy Implementation................................................................ 46
State-Level Policy Implementation....................................................................... 47
District-Level Policy Implementation................................................................... 49
Local-Level Policy Implementation. .................................................................... 50
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