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Transforming Identities: The Transition From Teacher to Leader During Teacher Leader Preparation

Journal of Research on Leadership Education

Published online on

Abstract

Since 1997, the Great Lakes Academy has provided leadership development for more than 800 teachers in a large metropolitan region of the Upper Midwest. Graduates of the 2-year program often describe their experience as transformative, life changing, and profound. To understand the meaning and impact of this transformation, the author used Mezirow’s theory of transformative learning as a lens for analyzing the written reflections of recent graduates and interviews with teachers who completed the program 2 years earlier. Study findings highlight the importance of identity transformation as a critical step in the preparation of teacher leaders.