Exploring teacher leadership in the Algerian context: middle school English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' perspectives

This qualitative exploratory study investigates teacher leadership in the underrepresentedAlgerian context. It specifically looks at teachers’ perceptions and reported practices of teacherleadership, supports and hindrances of teacher leadership within their context as well as theirperceptions of the role of engaging in informal collaborative practices within teachers’communities in enhancing their professional learning and growth as teacher leaders. The studydraws particularly on perspectives of a sample of 18 middle school EFL teachers. Data wasobtained from the selected sample using individual semi-structured interviews, writtenreflections, and online focus group discussions, and was analysed thematically. Findingsrevealed that while the term ‘teacher leadership’ was not necessarily a familiar term for mostparticipants, their responses indicated an understanding of what constitutes teacher leadership.Interestingly, teachers’ perceptions were specifically centred on non-positional teacherleadership, viewing the concept in terms of influence rather than a designated position orauthority. Such influence is exerted, according to them, through teachers’ practices within theirclassrooms, their practices beyond their classrooms, their participation in decision-makingprocesses as well as the set of traits which they demonstrate. Their reported practices of teacherwere largely consistent with their perceptions of the concept as they were primarily selfinitiated,involving practices both within their classrooms and beyond. Some discrepancy was,however, noted between their perceptions and their reported practices, specifically in light ofnotable scarcity of any reported school-wide or community-based practices of teacherleadership. Findings highlighted myriad factors that might have led to such discrepancy. In thissense, the study found that while teachers often referred to some desired supports, which theybelieve could enhance their leadership practices, they spoke at length about hindrances thatcurrently limit such practices. These factors broadly related to teachers’ personalcharacteristics; school-based factors; system-based factors; and sociocultural factors.Interestingly though, despite these hindrances, participant teachers still managed to practiseteacher leadership within their schools at some level. Findings equally indicated that participantteachers held positive perceptions of the role of engaging in informal collaborative practiceswithin teachers’ communities within their schools and beyond in enhancing their professionallearning and growth as teacher leaders. The study draws on concepts from Communities ofPractices, specifically on Campbell et al. (2019) Communities of Practice for TeacherLeadership Model and Wenger’s (1998) modes of belonging to holistically interpret anddiscuss the emerging findings and subsequently provides a more detailed discussion of these findings with reference to the research questions. Based on these findings, the study concludesby providing recommendations for policy and practice to support and promote teacherleadership enactment in Algerian public middle schools as well as suggestions for futureresearch.