Teacher Learning & Leadership Program: Research Report

If experienced teachers were supported to be leaders of learning – their own learning, the professional learning of other teachers, and their students’ learning – what would these teacher leaders do and what would be the challenges and benefits? These questions are central to the focus of this report, the Teacher Learning and Leadership Program (TLLP) in Ontario, Canada.

Launched in 2007, the TLLP is a joint initiative through partnership between the Ontario Teachers’ Federation (OTF) and the Ontario Ministry of Education with shared goals to: support experienced teachers to undertake self-directed advanced professional development; develop teachers’ leadership skills for sharing their professional learning and exemplary practices; and facilitate knowledge exchange for spread and sustainability of effective and innovative practices. Each year, experienced classroom teachers can apply individually or in a team to conduct a TLLP project.

This report on the TLLP asks three overarching questions: What is the value of TLLP for teachers? To what extent have the overall goals of TLLP been realized? What lessons can be learned so far?