Course | Leading Teacher Teams: Promoting Growth Through Effective Collaboration

Upcoming Sessions

Mar 12, 2026 - Apr 22, 2026
Application Deadline: Mar 4, 2026
Tuition: $399.00

Jun 11, 2026 - Jul 22, 2026
Application Deadline: Jun 3, 2026
Tuition: $399.00

Description

Uncover strategies for balancing your team’s role in advancing student learning, fostering the professional growth of individuals on your team, and establishing the structures and dynamics required for successful team collaboration.

Teacher teams are powerful levers of transformation in a school. Leading a team of teacher colleagues is an opportunity to build new skills, take on or expand leadership roles, advance your career, and expand your impact on student learning. However, team leadership presents challenges to even the most experienced teachers. In times when educators already feel overburdened and stressed, it can be harder to navigate the steps toward your shared goals.

Leading Teacher Teams: Promoting Growth Through Effective Collaboration was designed to help new and experienced teacher leaders build the skills they need to lead adult teams effectively. You’ll explore how adults learn, how to reach and motivate them, and how to apply team leadership strategies and practices that are supported by theory, research, and professional expertise. The program welcomes interest and registrations from all practitioners in the field.

Additional Details

Groups of 10+: 25% off final invoice. Contact HGSE for your discount code.
In accordance with Harvard University policy, Professional Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education affirms the right of all individuals to equal treatment in education without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Program Details

In this course, both new and experienced teacher leaders will build the skills they need to lead adult teams effectively. You’ll explore how adults learn, how to reach and motivate them, and how to apply team leadership strategies and practices that are supported by theory, research, and professional expertise.

Together, you'll tackle the following questions:
What are the characteristics of an effective team?
How do adults learn while working on teams?
What are the characteristics of a well-run team meeting?
How can protocols support teachers to address common challenges?
What is the role of conflict or disagreement in teams?

The course is divided into six one-week modules that explore the fundamentals of facilitating teacher teams. Through the weekly modules, you’ll uncover strategies for balancing your team’s role in advancing student learning, fostering the professional growth of individuals on your team, and establishing the structures and dynamics required for successful team collaboration.

Week 1: Establishing Teacher Teams
Week 2: Leading Adult Learning
Week 3: Facilitating Effective Meetings
Week 4: Facilitation Protocols for Discussing Instruction
Week 5: Facilitation Protocols for Solving Common Challenges
Week 6: Managing Conflict on Teams

Each week consists of approximately three hours of online work and one practice challenge, during which you will be asked to apply your learning in your real-world context.

Learning Goals

Explore current research on professional learning for teachers.
Examine common models of professional learning with a focus on team-based, collaborative approaches.
Practice designing and facilitating team-based learning experiences and receive feedback from peers.
Reflect on how you can improve the design and facilitation of teacher teams in your unique contexts.

Faculty

Certificate Chair
Noah Heller
Lecturer on Education
Noah Heller focuses on developing effective approaches to practice-based teacher education, teacher leadership and learning, and mathematics pedagogy.

Program Chair
Candice Bocala
Lecturer on Education
Candice Bocala explores the connections between educator learning and organizational conditions that support collaborative work.

Featured Faculty
Whitney Benns
Lecturer on Education

Tina Blythe
Lecturer on Education and Director of Learning and Outreach, Project Zero

Kathryn Parker Boudett
Senior Lecturer on Education

Ebony N. Bridwell-Mitchell
Herbert A. Simon Professor in Education, Management, and Organizational Behavior
Faculty Chair, Education Leadership, Organizations, and Entrepreneurship (ELOE)

Elizabeth City
Senior Lecturer on Education

Candice Crawford-Zakian
Lecturer on Education

Meira Levinson
Juliana W. and William Foss Thompson Professor of Education and Society

Eric Soto-Shed
Lecturer on Education

Samuel Straus
Lecturer on Education

Daniel Wilson
Lecturer on Education and Senior Research Associate, Project Zero


Featured Faculty
Rhonda Bondie
Adjunct Lecturer on Education

Ellie Drago-Severson
Professor of Education Leadership, Teachers College, Columbia University

Who Should Attend

Teacher leaders or teachers with an interest in leadership
Education professionals who support teachers in their work, such as mentors, instructional coaches, grade-level or department leads, supervisors, or teachers in other leadership roles

How to Register

This program welcomes registrations from both individuals and teams. First-time registrants need to create a Professional Education account to register.

Individuals: Click the “Register” button at the top of the page to log into your Professional Education account and access the registration page. Proceed with the individual form until submission. Invoices will be immediately available upon the submission of the form.

Teams: Designate one participant or an administrative staff member as the Coordinator.
The Coordinator should click the “Register” button at the top of the page to log into their Professional Education account and access the registration page.
Proceed with the team form, including providing the name, email address, and job title of each participant in your team.
The Coordinator can choose to receive a team invoice.
The invoice will be immediately available upon the submission of the form. Contact us if you are eligible for the group discount.
Contact us if you need to make any changes to your team after submitting the form.

Tuition Assistance

Tuition assistance is available for this program on a need and application basis. Tuition assistance is granted based on participant and institutional needs. Requests for tuition assistance do not affect an applicant's prospects for admission. You may access the tuition assistance application after you have submitted your program application. Tuition assistance applications should be submitted at least one month prior to the final application deadline.

Earn CEUs

Professional Education is excited to offer Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for your successful participation in this program. The Continuing Education Unit (CEU) is a nationally and internationally recognized unit of measurement for non-credit continuing education programs. As an IACET Accredited Provider, Professional Education offers IACET CEUs for its learning events that comply with the ANSI/IACET Continuing Education and Training Standard.

Requirements to be eligible to earn CEUs:
Attend or view all program sessions.
Complete program evaluation.
Successfully complete all program requirements.
Upon successfully meeting all requirements outlined above, you will be notified via email that you have A) earned the certificate of completion for the program and B) are now eligible to earn CEUs. This email will contain the link to complete the required reflection assignment if you wish to receive CEUs, along with a submission deadline and time frame for receiving your CEUs. After submitting your reflection assignment, we will notify you via email of your CEU status, and if you have met all requirements, you will be able to download and view your CEU certificate at this point in time. ILC courses are eligible for 2 CEUs.

Note: Professional Education is accredited by the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and offers IACET CEUs for its learning events that comply with the ANSI/IACET Continuing Education and Training Standard. IACET is recognized internationally as a standard development organization and accrediting body that promotes the quality of continuing education and training.

Unit may be available for this course and may vary by country or institution. Please verify eligibility with Harvard Graduate School of Education.