Розвиток лідерського потенціалу вчителів в умовах змін: досвід реформування шкільної освіти в США

Abstract

Стаття присвячена розгляду питання розвитку лідерства шкільних учителів у дослідженнях педагогів США в останній чверті ХХ - на початку ХХІ століття. Метою статті є з'ясування ролі лідерства шкільних учителів у досягненні успішного результату реформування системи середньої освіти в США. У роботі використано загальнонаукові методи аналізу, синтезу, порівняння та узагальнення, за допомогою яких з'ясовано сутність концепції лідерства вчителів, надано характеристику типів (вимірів) лідерських якостей, визначено умови формування та розвитку лідерства вчителів, які рекомендовано створювати на різних рівнях освітньої системи. Зроблено висновок, що кожне шкільне середовище формує власний лідерський потенціал із учителів-носіїв особливої шкільної культури, які й стають головними провідниками інновацій у шкільних організаціях.

The article deals with the issue of school teachers' leadership development covered in the studies of the US educators in the last quarter of the XX - the beginning of the XXI century. Research on organization culture and its fundamental role in school improvement has highlighted the effectiveness of implementation of changes into school environments where teachers share common vision on work issues and understand the priorities of their schools' development, focus on continuous improvement of their own teaching and learning practices, support collegial decision-making and do not avoid challenges and complexities. It was found out that future belongs to schools which are able to trigger each teacher's leadership potential to exercise it in classroom environment, in school community, in local institutions of professional development or any other social settings. The aspect of the development of new school leaders who are ready to change out-of-date or ineffective practices, who are able to encourage colleagues to learn constantly in order to gain self¬improvement has become meaningful in the USA pedagogy. The purpose of the article is to clarify the role of school teachers in successful outcome of school reform in the United States. In this paper, scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison and generalization are used to determine the essence of the concept of teacher's leadership, as well as to emphasize the characteristics of leadership qualities. It is concluded that each school environment forms its own teachers' leadership potential which represents special school culture so that teachers are considered to be the main change agents in school organizations. The conditions for the teachers' leadership formation and development are recommended at the school, district, and national levels. It is emphasized that in order to become a leader and a true change agent, teachers' constant professional development is recognized as an urgent need. Daily observation of the best colleagues' practices, open exchange of thoughts and reflection on their own achievements and failures should become the basis for the teachers' professional growth. Teachers' leadership potential development should not be limited only to the school level. The initiatives of district administrators, state and government authorities should be systematic in order to provide full support for teachers and promote social respect for teachers' profession. The recommendations of US educators regarding development of school leadership can be used creatively by Ukrainian educators when developing strategies for educational changes in schools.