Personal and professional ethical dilemmas in the context of developing teacher leaders in Australia

The chapter explores some interesting ethical issues faced by educational academics in developing the professional practice of teacher leaders through a three year government funded leading professional learning (LPL) programme in Australia. The programme was initiated to develop teacher leaders in public schools and was conceptualized around a core set of principles designed to illustrate that teachers and their professional knowledge were highly valued. As the project was funded by the State Education system, negotiations between the representatives of the bureaucracy and academics around programme intent and delivery presented significant ethical issues and tensions which inevitably cut across the ethos of program design and implementation. Ultimately, these influenced the programme and impacted the outcomes anticipated for the development of the teacher leaders' professional practice. Sadly, they may also have diluted the opportunities for support that these teacher leaders needed to confront their own ethical dilemmas in their workplace settings.