1. Inquiring Hong Kong prospective
teachers' readiness for teacher
leadership
By Sally Wai-Yan WAN
Faculty of Education
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Date: 14 July 2015
Corresponding email: sallywywan@cuhk.edu.hk
Website: http://www.sallywywan.com
Paper presented at the ISATT 2015, The University of Auckland, New Zealand

2. Outline
Introduction
Literature review
Aim of study
Why this study?
Research method
Findings
Discussion, conclusion and implications

3. Introduction
Teacher leadership in curriculum reforms
• Well-proved in student learning and school
development in different countries (Leithwood & Louis,
2012)
• Developing teacher leadership in teacher education
• Teacher quality and teaching effectiveness (Leonard et
al., 2012)
• "Disconnection" between teacher education programs
and teacher leadership development (Zeichner, 2010)

4. Teacher leadership
1990s “Formal leaders”
Decentralize curriculum decision making in schools and
communities (Mangin & Stoelinga, 2008)
A “new paradigm”(Crowther et al., 2002)
Leadership is no longer bounded to be
positions or delegation of responsibilities.
Teachers “lead within and beyond the
classroom; identify with and contribute to a
community of teacher learners and leaders;
influence others toward improved
educational practice; and accept responsibility
for achieving the outcomes of their
leadership” (Katzenmeyer & Moller, 2009: 6).

5. Teacher leadership:
Recent studies
“identify those alterable conditions
likely to have direct effects on
students, and to inquire about the
nature and strength of the
relationship between these conditions
and leadership” (Leithwood,
1999:681)

6. Teacher leadership:
Recent studiesSuccessful teacher leadership is found
to be mainly dependent on:
school culture
collegial relationships
principalship
(Durrant & Holden, 2006; Levenson,
2014)

7. Aim of the study
To explore prospective teachers’
perceptions of teacher leadership

8. Why this study?
1. Past studies focused on in-service teachers
2. Teacher leadership in local studies is yet to be
developed whilst few focused on the impacts of
school-based curriculum projects on teacher
leadership and leadership style in curriculum
decision making (e.g. Law et al. 2010)
3. Suitable teacher education strategy can be
provided to “potential” teacher leaders who
“practice their craft in subtle ways that may not
be obvious to others” (Katzenmeyer & Moller,
2009:14).

9. Research method
A sequential mixed method approach
2 phases of data collection (Creswell
& Plano Clark, 2007)
Phase 1: An online survey (QUAN)
Phase 2: individual interviews for
further understanding the
quantitative data (Quali)

10. Phase 1:
Quantitative studyParticipants
69 prospective teachers in the three compulsory
courses in bachelor of education programme in one
Hong Kong university during the academic year
2014-2015
Instrument
Teacher Leadership Inventory (Katzenmeyer &
Moller, 2001)
25 items assessing teachers’ readiness for teacher
leadership on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from
1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=no opinion,
4=agree, and 5=strongly agree.

11. Demographics N %
Gender Male 19 27.5
Female 50 72.5
Major area of study Chinese language
education
24 34.8
English language
education
17 24.6
Mathematics
education
14 20.3
Liberal studies
education
4 5.8
Physical education 8 11.6
Others 2 2.9
Year of study Year 1 6 8.7
Year 2 15 21.7
Year 3 31 44.9
Year 4 14 20.3
Year 5 3 4.3
Table 1. Demographics of survey participants.
Note: To 2 d.p.

12. Items Component
1 2 3
1. I think being a teacher is both meaningful and important. -.121 .204 .622
2. Individual teachers should be able to influence how other teachers think about, plan
for, and conduct their work with students.
.219 .519 -.059
5. I am willing to observe and provide feedback to fellow teachers. .630 .165 .262
6. I would like to spend time discussing my values and beliefs about teaching with my
colleagues.
.742 .164 -.072
8. I would be willing to help a colleague who was having difficulty with his or her
teaching.
.589 -.152 .112
9. I can see the points of view of my colleagues, parents and students. -.027 .436 .602
10. I would give my time to help select new members for my school. .368 .425 .262
11. I try to work as a facilitator of the work of students in my classroom and of
colleagues in meetings at my school.
.473 .560 .238
12. Teachers working collaboratively should be able to influence practice in their
schools.
.315 .233 .549
13. I can serve as a classroom teacher and become a leader in my school. .341 .582 .047
14. Cooperating with my colleagues is more important than competing with them. .154 .090 .689
15. I would give my time to help plan professional development activities. .197 .764 -.021
16. My work can contribute to the overall success of our school program. -.115 .672 .049
18. School and university faculty can mutually benefit from working together. .596 .357 .255
19. I would be willing to give my time to participate in making decisions about such
things as instructional materials, allocation of resources, student assignments, and
organization of the school day.
.523 .477 .150
23. I recognize and value points of view that are different from mine. .549 .238 -.219
Table 2. Rotated component matrix.

13. Number
of items
Cronbach’
s Alpha
F1 “Professional relationship with
stakeholders”
7 0.79
F2 “Role of teachers” 5 0.73
F3 “Value of teaching” 4 0.64
Table 3. Reliability analysis of three factors.
Note. Scores on a 5-point Likert scale: 5=strongly agree; 4=agree; 3=no opinion; 2=disagree; 1=strongly disagree

14. F1 F2 F3
F1 “Professional relationship
with stakeholders”
1
F2 “Role of teachers” .525** 1
F3 “Value of teaching” .337** .387** 1
Table 4. Component correlation matrix.
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

15. Phase 2:
Qualitative study
Participants
15 prospective teachers with different major of
study and year level agreed to participate in
individual interviews
Instrument
Semi-structured interviews
Duration : 30 to 45 minutes.
Data analysis
Thematic analysis; color-coding method;
emerging themes and issues (Stake, 1995)

16. Findings
Perceptions of teacher leadership
Teacher leadership and
demographics

17. Table 5. Combined mean scores of three factors.
Factors M S.D.
F1 “Professional relationship with
stakeholders”
3.99 0.42
F2 “Role of teachers” 3.74 0.51
F3 “Value of teaching” 4.24 0.47
Perceptions of teacher
leadership

18. Factor 1: Professional relationship with
stakeholders
Highest mean score: Item 25
“I want to work in an
environment where I am
recognized and valued as a
professional” (M=4.35,
S.D.=0.72)
Prospective teachers
explained the meanings of a
profession in terms of
qualification, theoretical
foundation, as well as
practical application.
When you trust
teachers as a
profession, basically
there is more freedom
for teachers to adjust
curriculum, or adapt
teaching…When you
go to the environment
where confidence is
given to you, really
helping increase
teachers’ enthusiasm
and passion. (CRT,
6/1/2015)

19. Factor 1: Professional relationship with
stakeholders
Lowest mean score: Item
19 “I would be willing to
give my time to
participate in making
decisions about such
things as instructional
materials, allocation of
resources, student
assignments, and
organization of the school
day” (M=3.78,
S.D.=0.68).
Less likely agreed on
curriculum decision
making due to heavy
workload
…that’s very ideal if there’s
cooperative work, yet…how
much time is needed?
Individual teachers’
workload has been big…to
do so much…[require] so
much time to work with
others, and there’s no
guarantee about its
effectiveness. (CRT,
6/1/2015)

20. Factor 2: Role of teachers
Highest mean score:
Item 11 “I try to work
as a facilitator of the
work of students in my
classroom and of
colleagues in meetings
at my school” (M=3.91,
S.D.=0.66)
considered that
collaboration is
necessary for
improving teaching
Two brains are better
than one brain. …
When working
together, more ideas
can be created. That
means, there can be
more methods to
teach different
students as they have
different needs. (THL,
27/11/2014)

21. Factor 2: Role of teachersLowest mean
score: Item 2
“Individual
teachers should be
able to influence
how other teachers
think about, plan
for, and conduct
their work with
students” (M=3.62,
S.D.=0.86)
Perhaps due to
lack of teaching
experience
Old teachers are very
experienced. Some…are of
high positions...[who] put
demands on new teachers.
We are just new
comers…old teachers’
thinking is already deeply
rooted. There can be big
differences in their thoughts
about education and student
learning. (RAL, 20/1/2015)

22. Factor 2: Role of teachers
Observed
school
practice
during
teaching
practice …
[Teachers’] work … is like “sweep the
snow from your own door step” [各家自掃
門前雪], that’s because everybody is
busy...so much to handle and won’t have
time to discuss.…there won’t be so much
cooperation and idea exchange between
new and experienced teachers. They may
not get along so well with each other
because new teachers always go with
new teachers, old teachers go with old
teachers, or certain subject teachers just
go with those teaching the same subject.
The environment is not really integrated.
There’s a distance between new and old
teachers. (RAL, 20/1/2015)

23. Factor 2: Role of teachers
Lowest mean score: Item
15 “I would give my time to
help plan professional
development activities”
(M=3.62, S.D.=0.79)
Common concerns:
limited time
lack of confidence
uncertainty about
professional
development
Teachers always work over time.
How can we do much within limited
time? This is really contradictory.
Some want to do, yet there is so
much to sacrifice. Teachers have to
get dating or family time…there is so
much to do at school. (OEY,
19/1/2015)
No matter what activities, they would
prefer being participants, not
planners. [because of being]
incapable of planning [and unwilling
to] put efforts in planning as you
never know if others like your
planned activities. (THL,
27/11/2014)
Being a freshly graduated teacher, you plan
professional development activities to other
teachers with four to six years of teaching
experience. Are you so brave to do that? That’s
really hard…If you really do so, many others
would say something at your back. (ROT,
20/1/2015)

24. Factor 3: Value of teaching
Highest mean
score: Item 14
“Cooperating with
my colleagues is
more important
than competing
with them”
(M=4.46,
S.D.=0.74)
Emphasis on the
purpose of being
a teacher: TO
TEACH
STUDENTS (well)
If there’s competition
among colleagues, you
want a higher position…if
you become a teacher, is it
your wish to get a higher
position or teach students
well? (THL, 27/11/2014)
…there’s no need to outstand
yourself in a team. More
important thing is to help your
colleague do things
better…don’t need to compare
because the ultimate goal is to
let students learn. (VIC,
5/1/2015)

25. Factor 3: Value of teaching
Lowest mean score:
Item 9 “I can see the
points of view of my
colleagues, parents
and students”
(M=3.96, S.D.=0.55)
there is some blockage between
teachers and students. It’s hard to
understand everyone’s viewpoints.
Sometimes teachers regard students
are immature...students at puberty
stage are more rebellious and don’t
like cooperating with teachers.
Teachers find it difficult to
communicate with them. (THL,
27/11/2014)
generation gap
…little time for them to sit and discuss
together. There’s not enough time for
teachers to talk with students. So it’s hard
to understand and communicate well with
each other. (LOT, 14/1/2015)
lack of time

26. Teacher leadership and
demographics
Sum of
Squares
df Mean
Square
F Sig.
F1
Between Groups 1.704 4 .426 2.654 .041
Within Groups 10.273 64 .161
Total 11.977 68
F2
Between Groups 2.599 4 .650 2.768 .035
Within Groups 15.025 64 .235
Total 17.624 68
F3
Between Groups .896 4 .224 1.013 .407
Within Groups 14.158 64 .221
Total 15.054 68
Table 6. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) of teacher leadership by year level.
Factor 1 “Professional relationship with stakeholders”:
Year 4 student teachers had a relatively higher mean score (M=4.19, S.D.=0.35)
Factor 2 “Role of teachers”:
Year 1 had a higher mean score (M=4.17, S.D.=0.43)

27. Discussion, conclusion and
implicationsTeacher education
Prospective teachers’ readiness for teacher
leadership in the “Role of teachers”
dimension is weaker
planning professional development
activities
influencing others in instructional matters
• related to lack of actual situated experience
• uphold high values of being a teacher (lack an
understanding of “complexities” of the teaching

28. Discussion, conclusion and
implications
Suggestions:
Offering authentic working experiences
Providing support during teacher education
program (esp. teaching practicum)
Taking crucial factors into consideration when
developing teacher leadership
Time + Workload  level of school support,
teacher autonomy, collaboration amongst staff
(Ingvarson et al., 2005).

29. Discussion, conclusion and
implicationsWeaker teaching efficacy and understanding of
professional development:
Showed doubts about their own teaching
capabilities
Lacked confidence in sharing teaching ideas
with experienced teachers
Suggestions:
Empowerment opportunities through current
teacher education
Development of appropriate teacher

30. Discussion, conclusion and
implications
Future research
Participants: other groups of
prospective teachers & a greater
sample (to explore relationships
between perceptions of TL &
demographics)
Follow-up studies (due to changes in
perceptions during the teacher
education program)

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