Elsabé de Villiers and SG (Fanie) Pretorius

Abstract：The aim of this research was to determine educators 'perceptions of and readiness for teacher leadership. A total of 283 educators in the Eden and Central Karoo Education District in the Western Cape participated in the study. The participants included district officials, principals, and members of school management teams, as well as veteran, middle, and novice educators. A series of instruments was used to determine educators 'perspectives, perceptions and readinessfor teacher leadership, including the Teacher Leadership Readiness Instrument (TLRI). The results indicated that educators held positive assumptions about teacher leadership. Educators ' preliminary leadership perceptions, assumptions about and readiness for teacher leadership proved that the mafority of educators are ready for a more distributed, deep democratic leadership practice in schools. Educators acknowledged the need for continuous professional development in the area of teacher leadership. It was also found that as preliminary leadership perceptions of educators improve or strengthen, readinessfor teacher leadership is also likely to improve or strengthen. Thesefindings have significant implications for leadership practices, collaboration, capacity-building and improvement in schools, educators ' self-esteem, motivation and productivity, as well as student outcomes.

Keywords: distributed leadership; educators' assumptions; educators' perceptions; educators' readiness; parallel leadership; professional development; teacher leadership

总结：有效的学校领导和管理是确保成功的结果的关键。南非的教育系统提供了便利的过程，学校引导从集中到分散控制。各种策略，嵌在南方非洲学校法（1996年84号的）已经实施，为民主学校涉及学校管理人员，教育工作者，家长。此外。学校自评估（SSE）和全校评估（WSE）已实施问责制系统和流程。

来源：South African Journal of Education