Presentation of a proposed dissertation study at Teachers College, Columbia University. Author: Sarah Benis Scheier-Dolberg Website: sarahbsd.wordpress.com

1. Language, Learning, and Leadership
A Qualitative Study of Teachers’ Experiences within the
Learning-Oriented Leadership Model
Learning to Better Meet Adaptive Teaching Challenges Involving English
Learners in Urban Schools

2. Context and Background
 Transformation of failing or underperforming schools in
urban K-12 contexts requires teachers and principals to
address adaptive challenges.
 Adaptive challenges are problems that require new learning
and organization-wide capacity building because the
problems are not well-defined and/or have no known
solutions (Heifetz, 1994).
 Key adaptive challenges in urban schools involve teaching
English learners, students not sufficiently proficient in
English to be able to benefit from regular
classroom instruction.
 I define adaptive teaching challenges for
teachers of English learners as pedagogical
problems of practice related to language
acquisition for which there are no easy or
ready-made answers.

3. Research Problem
a) Teachers of English learners face many adaptive teaching
challenges in their work in urban schools, and recently
researchers have linked Heifetz’s (1994) work to
increasingly complex problems principals and teachers
face in K-12 urban school contexts, yet few studies have
sought to define these adaptive teaching challenges faced
by teachers of English learners.
My study will address this gap in the research literature by
asking 16 teachers of English learners to reflect
upon and name the adaptive teaching challenges
they face in their work as teachers of English
learners.

4. Research Problem (continued)
b) The learning-oriented leadership model (Drago-
Severson, 2004, 2009, 2012 forthcoming) addresses the
need to support teachers in addressing adaptive teaching
challenges through creating opportunities for teachers
to build their internal capacities through transformational
learning (changes in how they know), yet no studies have
focused on teachers’ experiences engaging in the pillar
practices (i.e., mentoring, teaming, assuming leadership
roles, and collegial inquiry) of the learning-oriented
leadership model.
My study will address this gap in the research by
exploring how 16 teachers of English learners
experience the pillar practices of the learning-
oriented leadership model (Drago-Severson,
2004, 2009, 2012 forthcoming).

5. Research Problem (continued)
c) No studies have explored how working within a learning-
oriented leadership model (Drago-
Severson, 2004, 2009, 2012 forthcoming) grounded in
constructive-developmental theory (Kegan, 1982, 1994)
may help teachers of English learners acquire new
knowledge and new ways of thinking to better meet
adaptive teaching challenges.
My study will address this gap in the research literature by
asking 16 teachers of English learners to reflect upon
their experiences engaging in the pillar practices of
the learning-oriented leadership model, their
learnings within the model, the potential influence
of their cultural background on their experiences,
and any perceived impact on their abilities to
better meet adaptive teaching challenges.

6. Research Purpose
My qualitative multi-site case study attempts to explore the
experiences of 16 teachers of English learners engaging in the
pillar practices (i.e., teaming, mentoring, assuming leadership
roles, and collegial inquiry learning) of the learning-oriented
leadership model (Drago-Severson, 2004, 2009, 2012
forthcoming) acrosstwo urban school sites.
The ultimate goal of my study is to gain an understanding of
how the professional learning spaces within the learning-
oriented leadership model help teachers to better
meet the adaptive teaching challenges involving
English learners. An important lens of my study
includes the potential influences of teachers’
cultural background on their experiences
within the learning-oriented leadership model.

7. Research Questions
1. What do 16 teachers of English learners from two urban
schools name as the adaptive teaching challenges they
face in their teaching? How do they describe and
understand these adaptive teaching challenges?

8. Research Questions (continued)
2. How do 16 teachers of English learners describe and
understand their experiences participating in the pillar
practices (i.e., teaming, mentoring, assuming leadership
roles, and collegial inquiry) that compose the learning-
oriented leadership model? In what ways, if any, do
they describe how participating in the pillar practices
has helped them to better meet the adaptive teaching
challenges they face? How so? What kinds of learning
do they name from participating in these practices?

9. Research Questions (continued)
3. How do participants describe their cultural
backgrounds? In what ways, if any, do participants
describe how their cultural backgrounds influence their
instructional decision making, how they relate to
students, and how they relate to colleagues? How, if at
all, do participants describe influences of their cultural
backgrounds on their participation in the pillar practices
(i.e., teaming mentoring, assuming leadership
roles, and collegial inquiry)?

10. Conceptual Framework

11. Key Theoretical Framework

12. Research Methodology
Methodological Approach
 Qualitative multi-site case study approach
Site and Sample Selection
 2 urban school sites (where principals use learning-
oriented leadership model)
 16 teachers of English learners (8 at each site)
Data Collection
 3 interviews with each teacher (60-minute
interview protocol for each interview)
 Each of the three interviews addresses a
separate research question
 Interviews conductedspring through
summer of 2012

13. Research Methodology
continued
Data Analysis Procedures
1. Analytic notes and reflective writing after interviews
2. Interview transcription and review of transcripts
3. Preliminary coding
4. Categorization
5. In-depth narrative summaries
6. Within-case and across-case analysis
Addressing Validity Threats
 Analytical memo writing, digital voice
recording, review of transcripts, member-
checks, cross checking codes with other
researchers, seeking out discrepant data

14. Rationale and Significance
 Extends Drago-Severson’s (2004, 2009, 2012
forthcoming) learning-oriented leadership model by
exploring teachers’ experiences engaging in the pillar
practices in urban schools
 Links the learning-oriented leadership model (Drago-
Severson, 2004, 2009, 2012 forthcoming) to the
professional learning spaces created for teachers of
English learners, highlighting teachers of English
learners’ learning experiences with the pillar
practices (i.e., teaming, mentoring, assuming
leadership roles, and collegialinquiry) and the
potential influences of cultural background on those
experiences

15. Rationale and Significance
continued
 Highlights a leadership model that has not yet been
explored by researchers for its potential capacity to
create professional learning spaces for teachers of
English learners that could be linked in the future to
improved learning opportunities for English learners
 Extends Heifetz’s (1994) research and defines the
concept of adaptive teaching challenges generally—
and specifically for teachers of English learners—
while also asking teachers to describe their
experiences with adaptive teaching
challenges and their experiences learning
to better meet the adaptive teaching
challenges they name

16. References
Drago-Severson, E. (2004). Helping teachers learn: Principal leadership for adult
growth and development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Drago-Severson, E. (2009). Leading adult learning: Supporting adult
development in our schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Drago-Severson, E. (2012 forthcoming). Creating spaces for leadership: A guide.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Heifetz, R. (1994). Leadership without easy answers. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Kegan, R. (1982). The evolving self: Problems and process in human
development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Kegan, R. (1994). In over our heads: The mental demands of modern life.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

17. Sarah Benis Scheier-Dolberg
Teachers College, Columbia University
sarahbsd@gmail.com
www.sarahbsd.wordpress.com
Prepared on February 23, 2012 for a dissertation proposal
hearing at Teachers College, Columbia University.