Teacher Leaders: Coaching and Supervising Your Team

ONLINE
15 February - 12 April 2025
Asynchronous with One Synchronous Session on 15 February 7am-9am ET (Miami Time)
(attendance required)

Facilitator: Vickie Swann

Listen to Vickie Swann answer the question: “Why should you take this course?”

As international schools mature, collaborative and distributed leadership models are becoming far more necessary and common. Many of these more contemporary leadership models expand the roles of department heads, grade or year level leaders, and other teacher leaders beyond curriculum work to include the promotion of teacher growth through coaching, as well as evidence-based accountability through supervision.

While the conventional wisdom has been that these two essential roles are not easily compatible, the reality is that teacher leaders find themselves managing and leading both. Teacher leaders work far more closely with teachers and students than principals so are well-positioned to make significant contributions to both these facets. This course is designed to help teacher leaders learn the skills of both roles.

What will I learn?

During this learning experience we will explore the following questions:

  • Why is the role of the teacher leader a vital component of an effective coaching, supervision, evaluation, and professional development program?

  • How does knowledge of cultural differences help leaders build relationships and develop trust?

  • How do teacher leaders best support planning, instruction, learning, & assessment?

  • How does a teacher leader foster reflective practice to improve teaching & learning? 

  • How does a teacher leader create a climate of self-directed adult learners who work to support each others’ learning for the benefit of all students? 

    You will learn and practice how to:

  • Collect meaningful evidence of: instructional strategies; planning approaches; assessment tools; and student learning

  • Use data to guide coaching and instructional decisions that promote teacher growth

  • Provide meaningful feedback to team members on specific teaching and assessment strategies

  • Lead reflective processes with colleagues, using evidence of student learning, which lead to improved teaching practices

  • Identify and support the needs of team members as adult learners

  • Align instructional practices to teacher standards

  • Leverage AI tools to enhance the coaching process

The curriculum for all TLI courses is rooted in the ‘Standards for International Teacher Leaders’, which include an elevated emphasis on applying the practices associated with anti-racism and inclusion.

Who is this Experience for?

Heads of department, grade level/year groups leaders, instructional coaches and others who lead teams in international schools. Aspiring teacher leaders are also encouraged to attend. *We encourage teacher leader teams to take our online course together, ideally with their principal or director of teaching and learning. For more information about how we can support school teams, please contact Sue Easton, Director of TLI Programs, at seaston@theptc.org.

What’s My Commitment?

This is an 8-week course with four asynchronous modules, released every 2 weeks. It begins with one mandatory introductory synchronous session from 7 - 9am ET (Miami Time). The remainder of the 8-week course is asynchronous though regional cohorts meet synchronously twice during the course at a time that works best for them, given prompts to deepen their learning. You should be prepared to spend approximately 3-4 hours per week, including individual and job-embedded tasks. This course can be used towards completion of your Certificate for International School Teacher Leadership. In order to earn your Certificate of Completion for this course and count this course towards your Certificate of International School Teacher Leadership you will need to complete ALL assigned learning tasks within each module within the time period for the course.