Who am I and where do I belong? The perception and evaluation of teacher leaders concerning teacher leadership practices and micropolitics in schools

The phenomenon of teachers taking on leadership tasks beyond their classroom duties has become widespread internationally. While presented as a catalyst for educational improvement, it blurs the traditional division between teaching and leading and therefore challenges the conventional professional relationships in schools as well as the professional self-understanding of teacher leaders. This article reports on an exploratory study of the perceptions of teacher leaders in Flemish primary and secondary schools. By conducting semi-structured interviews of 26 teacher leaders, we collected data concerning their tasks and the consequences for both their social–professional relations with teacher colleagues and school leaders and their professional self-understanding. From a micro-political perspective, the results demonstrate how teacher leadership introduces new structures of interactions in schools that makes teacher leaders find themselves continuously juggling between two different agendas of professional interests: obtaining recognition as a teacher leader by their colleagues as well as maintaining their social–professional relationships with their colleagues.     

Standards and assessment: coherence from the teacher’s perspective

We sought to understand how teachers’ perspectives on standards-based instructional practices, classroom assessment, and external testing do or do not show coherence and alignment. Based on survey methods (n?=?155) and interviews with a sample of secondary school teachers (n?=?9) in a large urban district in the USA, we explored general trends and individual teachers’ viewpoints. Our results suggest that the teachers’ instructional use of standards, classroom assessment preferences, and beliefs about the test-driven system are moderately correlated. Interview data provide insight into reasons teachers hold beliefs that do or do not fit well into a coherent assessment system.     

The Impact of Centers and Institutes on Faculty Life: Findings from a Study of Life Sciences Faculty at Research-Intensive Universities’ Medical Schools

This article reports on the impact of organized research centers on professional effort, productivity, and perceptions of work satisfaction for life sciences faculty members at research intensive universities’ medical schools in the U.S. Results indicate that senior center-affiliated faculty members taught less but worked more total hours than peers not affiliated with centers. Senior affiliated faculty members were more productive than their non-affiliated peers and were more likely to be principal investigators on externally funded grants. Center-affiliated faculty members were more likely to be dissatisfied with their mix of activities and workload but more likely to be satisfied with job security and autonomy. Implications beyond this context are suggested. Sarah A. Bunton is a Senior Research Associate at the Association of American Medical Colleges in Washington DC. She received her B.A. from the University of Chicago, her M.A. from the University of Minnesota, and her Ph.D. in higher educational policy also from the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include postsecondary faculty work life and satisfaction, higher education organization, and student development. William T. Mallon is Assistant Vice President and Director of Organization and Management Studies at the Association of American Medical Colleges. Dr. Mallon received his B.A. and M.A. from the University of Richmond and his M.Ed. and Ed.D. in higher education policy from Harvard University. His research interests focus on the ways in which academic medical centers recruit and retain faculty and administrative leaders and the interorganizational relationships among medical schools, teaching hospitals, and parent universities.     

The Role of Interlibrary Loan in Disaster Preparedness and Recovery

Interlibrary loan serves an important function within disaster recovery, as it is the method that will likely be used in order to get materials that are otherwise damaged or inaccessible to local users. Since interlibrary loan ensures the continuity of service, it is important for interlibrary loan departments to prepare before a disaster occurs, identifying key issues and concerns, so that if and when the challenge comes they can meet it most effectively, fulfill users’ needs, and demonstrate their value.