PRE-SERVICE TEACHER LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT FOR EDUCATIONAL REFORM IN THE UAE

For teacher candidates (TCs) to become professional, TCs need to develop ‘professional practice knowledge’, skills and dispositions. Teacher leadership must therefore be a specific university learning outcome for undergraduate teacher candidates. This study aimed to investigate how teacher leadership was developed within a cohort of female Emirati TCs engaged in their final 10 week practicum experience in an international private school in Dubai. It also evaluated the impact an integrated curriculum, with a sustained and embedded practicum, had on teacher leadership development.

Using a qualitative longitudinal case study approach data were collected through ongoing observations, TC written reflections, focus group discussions, dialogue, faculty journals and email and Blackboard communications. The data were analyzed using an inductive process of identifying themes and key content areas.

The study identified key issues that impacted the teacher leadership development process and pre-service teacher professional learning in the school which included the nature of the integrated practicum leadership program curriculum, the types of leadership practices that were developed and some of the ethical issues that arose. The findings indicate that specifically the sharing of leadership, formal and informal roles, content and pedagogical knowledge, critical reflection, interpersonal skills, and school and cultural issues significantly impacted teacher leadership development throughout the program. The combination of these factors led to a positioning of the TCs as emerging teacher leaders within their initial teacher education practicum.

There has been limited research on teacher leadership development in initial teacher education in the UAE and on the extent to which pre-service teacher candidates can develop the characteristics of teacher leaders. This current study identifies how teacher leadership can be facilitated and developed in initial teacher education and suggests that it is an essential for educational reform in the UAE.