ABSTRACT
Teachers may avoid advocacy because they fear negative reactions, they experience a lack of support, and/or they believe that advocacy is not aligned with their primary responsibilities. Teachers also struggle to determine the best ways to influence their colleagues so that students’ needs are met across the school. Both internal and external forces create resistance to advocacy that teachers must overcome. However, challenges to advocacy can be addressed through leadership development and collaborative structures that allow teacher advocates the space to do their work, as well as the personal and professional development that gives them the tools to enact critical teacher leadership. This chapter shares the ways that administrators supported teachers in their advocacy work across the case studies. In addition, the chapter describes how external networks support teacher advocacy by providing concrete processes for developing leadership skills.
