Teacher Leadership and Quality Secondary Education: A Study in Odisha

The practice of transformational leadership by teachers has gained momentum in many countries, particularly in those which give precedence to academics in institutional management. But in India the concept is still at its nascent stage. The development of new leadership roles for teachers is necessary for making fruitful the school improvement initiatives and to create a learning culture. The first decade of 21^st century has witnessed many reforms in school education as well as in teacher education in the country. These reforms can show up best results through effective transformational leadership of teachers and can provide what the nation needs and the world expects in terms of learning outcomes and quality education. The present study was conducted to understand the perception of school teachers regarding their leadership roles in imparting quality school education. Data was collected through interviews held with them in the state of Odisha. It was found that their perception of leadership role was mainly shaped by the school administrative structures and confined to their own school context. Teachers, as found out in this study, felt insecure to be leaders beyond the classrooms. Insufficient time and micro-politics in schools were considered as impeding factors to exercise teacher leadership. It was recommended that affording more opportunities in the form of organization of training, provision of time and space for collaboration, reflective activities and shared decision making would help in fostering teacher leadership in schools.