ABSTRACT
This book describes the work of teacher advocates with their students as critical pedagogy, or teaching for social justice. It also demonstrates that because teacher advocates influence their colleagues, they are engaging in teacher leadership embedded within the ideals and practices of collaborative leadership. In addition, teacher advocates follow the demands for ethical leadership since their work is guided by values linked to equity and the pursuit of social change. In other words, teacher advocates approach teaching as both a critical and an ethical endeavor, and they influence their colleagues’ work through collaborative and ethical leadership practices. Thus, the work of teacher advocates with and for students who are traditionally marginalized embodies a set of beliefs and practices that establish a theory for teaching and leadership called critical teacher leadership. This chapter summarizes each of the case studies to provide a view of advocacy as critical pedagogy, collaborative leadership, and ethical leadership, and posits that by taking action embedded in these three theoretical approaches, teacher advocates practice critical teacher leadership. The chapter also offers a list of recommended practices for critical teacher leaders, as well as the supports needed to develop and sustain advocacy work at the school level.
