Teacher’s readiness for leadership – a strategy for school development

Teacher leadership is a powerful concept in school development. However, teachers' readiness to take on the leadership role is rather delicate. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the relationship between teachers' readiness for leadership and two main factors that affect it: distributed leadership and school culture. Quantitative data from teachers (n = 480) in 16 Estonian schools were gathered through a questionnaire regarding teachers' readiness for leadership, their perceived distributed leadership and school culture. The results indicated that teachers in schools where distributed leadership dimensions were perceived above average evaluated their readiness for leadership higher. We also found that teachers evaluated their readiness for leadership higher in schools where innovation and change-oriented school culture were perceived as higher than average. The findings offer in-depth evidence of the conditions necessary to support teachers' readiness for leadership.