Lead Teachers in Collaborative Action Research: Perceptions of Role and Responsibility

In 2008-09, the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) sponsored a professional learning initiative entitled, Teachers Learning Together: The Math Journey. The context for teachers was one of team-based, collaborative action research (CAR) dealing with a mathematics topic of their own choosing. University researcher teams in provincial regions were also enlisted to facilitate the CAR activities and to conduct case study research and reporting. Each teacher team designated a Lead Teacher (LT) for the duration of the project. This paper highlights the case study research findings pertaining to perceptions of role and responsibility of the LTs, and focuses on four emergent roles, namely that of manager, motivator, model, and mediator. Lead Teachers are shown to be essential to the collaborative action research process. Notwithstanding, recommendations regarding the actual LT designation, and a clearer communication of LT role and responsibility are also made.