From science teacher to teacher leader: Leadership development as meaning making in a community of practice

Abstract The process through which three science teachers became active, effective teacher leaders in their schools, their profession, and their communities was investigated. A model of leadership development, proposed by Palus and Drath (Evolving leaders: A model for promoting leadership development in programs, Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, NC, 1995), was used as a framework for analyzing and understanding the experiences and forces that led these teachers to become leaders. Development of the teacher leaders was prompted by their involvement in SCI‐LINK, a program that began as a way to link environmental scientists and science teachers, and grew over a period of 6 years to become a constellation of activities and a learning community of teachers, scientists, and science educators. Four elements of SCI‐LINK that promoted and supported leadership development are identified. Implications for leadership development in science education and other subject areas are discussed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 87: 281–297, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/sce.10022