Teacher leadership in communities of practice

Abstract

From the standpoint of current literature and research on the topic, this article studies the relationship between teacher leadership and participation in communities of practice. It begins with a debate over the theoretical concepts involved: communities of practice, learning and teacher leadership. An analysis of how learning takes place in communities of practice is subsequently done, taking specific experiences as an example and relating them to the influences of contexts where these communities operate. Finally, and taking once again the relevant literature as a starting point, this article is focused on leaderships developed within communities of practice and those which are projected onwards, but starting from the experience of being participant in one of these communities.