Teachers’ Perceptions of the Contextual Factors that Support Teacher Leadership in School: A Co-Creation Perspective

This study has aimed to reveal the complexities of the contextual factors that support teacher leadership. Contextual factors reflect the environment where teachers work; they include but are not limited to teaching practices, trust in the support teachers receive from school administrators, school climate, parents’ views, and school culture. In the study, co-creation has emerged as an overarching factor in managing the complexity of the contextual factors that support teacher leadership. This study was based on a qualitative research design involving thematic analysis. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 42 schoolteachers from Lithuania, and purposive sampling was applied. The results suggest that administrative support, school administrators’ attitudes toward teacher leadership, teachers’ co-creation-based formal and informal learning of leadership skills, teachers’ partnership and collaboration with school communities, the use of learning spaces, and the modeling of educational processes through co-creation practices are contextual factors that influence the emergence and development of teacher leadership in school.