Empowering Educators: Teacher Leadership Academy
Teacher leaders play a critical role in determining school culture, supporting new teacher success, and improving student learning outcomes. With this in mind, the Roche Center created the Empowering Educators: Teacher Leadership Academy, which develops and supports current and aspiring teacher-leaders in the core areas of understanding principles of adult learning, creating a culture of learning, mentoring new teachers, and leading initiatives in their schools.
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Successful school cultures are ones in which everyone teaches and learns. For schools to be their best, leadership cannot be left to the principal alone. Distributed leadership is necessary. Over the course of this program, teacher-leaders from Catholic schools hone the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to help transform their schools.
At a Glance
Empowering Educators: Teacher Leadership Academy — Overview
During the two-year-long program, educators hone the leadership skills and dispositions necessary to transform their school community as they:
- explore the role of data-informed decision making when planning, implementing, and assessing student-impact initiatives
- plan and implement a school-based project requiring involvement as a leader of a team (e.g., subject-area, grade level) or as a coach of colleagues (e.g., instructional coaching, mentoring and induction)
- develop a shared understanding of the definition of a teacher-leader and a vision for this role in their school communities
- examine distributed and teacher leadership theories, research, and models of implementation
Participants in the Teacher Leadership Academy (TLA) will engage in a series of in-person and virtual sessions and activities, as well as an implementation element where teacher-leadership concepts and skills are put into practice.
1) In-person institute at md´«Ã½¹ú²ú¾ç College to kick off the 1- or 2-year version of the program
2) Monthly whole-group virtual (Zoom) sessions. 1-on-1 and small-group virtual check-ins
3) Implementation of a school-based teacher leadership project with impact presentations at the conclusion of each school year of participation
Throughout the TLA, participants engage in virtual monthly sessions and 1-on-1 and small-group virtual coaching to support their teacher-leadership growth.Ìý
Sample topics in these sessions include:
- Vision of Self as Teacher-Leader
- Distributed Leadership
- Frameworks for Effective Teaching & Leading
- Leading Teams
- Coaching & Mentoring Colleagues
- Supporting Adult Learners
- Setting the Conditions for Collaboration & Impact
- Communication & Feedback
- Data-informed Decision-Making
- Leveraging Data to Drive Implementation & Impact
“Participating in the md´«Ã½¹ú²ú¾ç College Teacher Leadership Academy was an unexpected opportunity and blessing. I was blown away by the talent of my fellow participants and am grateful to have had the privilege to learn from them.”
Information
PrintAudience
The Empowering Educators professional development initiative is designed for PK-12 Catholic school teacher-leaders.
The Empowering Educators TLA partners with Catholic school systems (Diocesan or network) to form cohorts of teacher-leaders leading school-based change while developing teacher leadership competencies and skills.
2024-2025 Dates
1) In-person institute at md´«Ã½¹ú²ú¾ç College to kick off the 1- or 2-year program
2) Monthly whole-group virtual (Zoom) sessions and 1-on-1 or small-group virtual check-ins
3) Implementation of a school-based teacher leadership project with impact presentations at the conclusion of each school year of participation
Specific dates set in collaboration with sponsoring partner and/or cohort members. Please contact the Roche Center for more information.
Costs
The cost of the Empowering Educators: Teacher Leadership Academy is $2,500 per teacher per year.
The Teacher-Leadership Academy will be comprised of a minimum of 10 teacher leaders per cohort.
Register
Questions? Interested in forming a Diocesan or Network cohort?
Contact Dr. Michael O’Connor, Program Director of Outreach & Professional Development, at rochecenter@bc.edu.
Facilitator: Michael T. O'Connor, Ph.D.
The Empowering Educators: Teacher Leadership Academy is facilitated by Dr. Michael O'Connor, Program Director of Outreach and Professional Development at the Roche Center. Michael has servedÌýas a middle school educator, instructional coach, professional learning consultant, teacher educator, researcher, and policymaker across Catholic and public education settings. He has supported beginning Catholic school educators in multiple roles with programs in the University Consortium for Catholic Education (UCCE), including as a Teaching Fellow with the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) at the University of Notre Dame, the founding Assistant Director of Programs with the Alliance for Catholic Education at Saint Joseph's University (ACESJU), an Instructional Coach with the Urban Catholic Teacher Corps (UCTC) at md´«Ã½¹ú²ú¾ç College, and the Director of the Providence Alliance for Catholic Teachers (PACT) at Providence College. Michael earned his doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in Language, Literacy, and Culture from the Lynch School at md´«Ã½¹ú²ú¾ç College.