ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the unique perspectives of teacher leadership in Singapore, England, Australia, and New Zealand. Teacher leaders often face daunting challenges in their effort to drive change and improvement in their local schools and communities. In many countries, most notably England and Australia, teacher leadership responsibilities are assigned to a principal or headteacher, who is held accountable for improving the school. Australia publicizes its national curriculum online for citizens to view and requires schools to participate in national surveys and international benchmarking. New Zealand practices a distributed teacher leadership model, an approach whereby teachers, students, and administrators share leadership responsibilities. Constructivist teacher leaders reframe their roles and responsibilities in order to facilitate change in schools and communities of learners. The Cluster Model provides teacher leaders with opportunities for professional development, consulting, digital technology, and educational conferences. Singapore's teacher leadership model is often cited in research as one of the best in the field.
