Student learning: a compass for pedagogical leadership and teacher professional development

Abstract

The aim of the study is to describe pedagogical leadership practices that promote professional teacher learning from a school-based training perspective and to analyze teachers' views on such practices. This is a case study with a qualitative methodology and a descriptive scope carried out with a constructionist grounded theory approach. The participants were ten classroom teachers and two school directors in Chile. We applied interviews and discussion groups to collectively define leadership practices and inquire into teachers' opinions. The results show five pedagogical leadership practices that the teachers recognize because of their influence on professional learning at school. There is a type of leadership that exerts its influence from the preparation of teaching, through the permanent feedback of class designs, and this is a process that encourages a collaborative and permanent inquiry, fostering the construction of a professional learning culture within the school. We conclude on the relevance of a pedagogical leadership that is deployed according to the learning needs of the students as a compass that guides the professional development of teachers and gives meaning to it.