Building a Research Community, Developing a Coherent Field of Study

While many researchers have studied teacher leaders, a corresponding field of research on teacher leadership has been slow to develop. This narrative account charts our strategic efforts to build a community of scholars capable of strengthening teacher leadership as a field of study. It documents the parallel development of two entities, the Teacher Leadership Congress, a grassroots movement, and Division K, Section 2, a formal, institutional structure embedded within the American Educational Research Association. Using a community of practice lens (Wenger, 1998), we examine the ways in which these two entities complemented each other and galvanized a collection of individuals into a research community. We found that coordination between the Teacher Leadership Congress and Division K has resulted in a professional community that has facilitated co-construction of new understandings and identities, furthered teacher leadership research, and enhanced researchers' capacities to guide practice in ways that are urgently needed.