Teacher leader identity construction and its perceived relationship with classroom practice in a Namibian secondary school

This study investigates how teachers at a Namibian secondary school construct and enact a teacher leader identity, and how they perceive this process to relate to their classroom practice and learner engagement. Using semi-structured interviews with eight participants (six teachers and two Heads of Department) at one secondary school in Windhoek, the study adopts a qualitative case study design and reflexive thematic analysis. Initial coding was primarily inductive, with participants' accounts informing the development of patterns, which were then interpreted through selected constructs from Professional Identity scholarship and an Ubuntu-informed relational lens. Four findings emerge. First, participants' accounts of classroom leadership range from managerial control to transformative, relational influence. Second, all participants asserted a teacher leader identity, but its depth varied and was described in relation to reflective experience, professional learning, and institutional context. Third, participants who described a more developed identity reported enacting it through interconnected practices of differentiated instruction, structured motivation, targeted learner support, and participatory governance, termed here a classroom leadership ecology. Fourth, participants associated these practices with learner engagement, motivation, and academic progress; these are perceived associations, not measured effects. Because participants were selected by school leadership and the study is a single-site case based on self-reported accounts, the findings are not generalisable and are best read as showing how a developed teacher leader identity is described where it has emerged. The findings suggest that conceptual recognition of classroom leadership is present, while the depth of articulation and enactment varies with professional experience and context. They point to the value of recognising classroom-level teacher leadership in professional standards and appraisal, and of piloting school-based professional development and peer dialogue that support identity development. Future research should combine classroom observation and learner outcome data to test these perceived associations.