ABSTRACT
The variety of ways in which a teacher may serve in a leadership capacity has grown in scope and substance, and represents a continuum of formal and informal practices. Traditional teacher leadership roles may have included department chairs, association or union leaders, and curriculum developers. This chapter focuses on the generative processes involved, and contextualizes the role of novice teacher leaders against increased attention to teacher leadership in the United States. The teacher leadership activities of beginning English-as-a-second-language teachers in a wide variety of settings in New York City public schools were examined in terms of the professional direction, support and development that these new teachers received that set them on the path to teacher leadership. School leaders today are immersed in professional development that will help them understand the tremendous benefits of teacher leadership, but teachers themselves need to be invited to the conversation.
