"School leaders are made, not born." This popular axiom has been the underpinning for my year at the Harvard Graduate School of Education's School Leadership Program (SLP) in the Teacher Leadership strand. In the last six years of working as an educator, from a peasant cooperative high school in Nicaragua, to an alternative school in Dorchester, to a South Central public school in Los Angeles, I have found one thing to be true: there is cyclical injustice in the quality and access to formal education, and there are people who work, teach and even lead in ways that perpetuates this cycle. As an educator who believes that one shouldn't have to leave the classroom in order to improve school practices in ways that directly impact student learning, I have found my classroom and internship experiences in the SLP to be incredibly valuable to my development as an instructional leader.

Being a member of a community of experienced, innovative and committed educators, leaders, and school developers is one of the unique aspects of the School Leadership Program. I have had the privilege this year to work with and learn from my peers and professors who are leaders in diverse fields of education: from charter schools to public schools, from the fields of Special Education to pedagogy. Through the year-long course that is a requirement for SLP students, A-328: Proseminar in School Leadership, we have been able to struggle together in thinking about and reflecting on the tough issues that affect us as school leaders: leadership tools, instructional leadership, issues of curriculum, and diversity. It has been through this distinct struggle in the company of my peers and professors, that I have been able to develop a working understanding of the relationship between my role as an instructional leader and bringing good teaching and learning practices to scale at a school.

As a student in the Teacher Leadership strand I have been able to take courses that directly relate to my role as a teacher leader: Teachers, Leadership and Power; Teaching and Learning; Implementing Inclusive Education; and Supporting Teachers for Instructional Change. Through the wide range of my coursework, I have been able to look at the importance of teacher leadership and its centrality in improving a school's culture so it promotes social justice and diversity, develops collaboration and teamwork among colleagues, and supports the development of good teaching and learning practices which supports students' construction of knowledge. The opportunities I've had to develop a framework for instructional leadership through my studies, have been significantly enhanced through the support and guidance I've received from my professors and peers in the program. As a result, I have begun to think more deeply about how combining research with practice can support my role as a teacher leader.

In addition to my coursework, I feel that my study of instructional leadership has been supported considerably by my year-long teacher leader internship position in the new Boston Public School (BPS)-HGSE Cross Role Cohort Program in Leadership and Learning. With the BPS-HGSE Cross Role Cohort's goal to increase the instructional leadership capacity of teachers and principals, I have the opportunity to work with a principal intern from the SLP two days a week in a local BPS middle school that is interested in instructional improvement. I am conducting action research at my school in the area of teacher leadership and how teacher leaders can be pivotal in the process of taking good teaching and learning to scale at a school. The internship in the BPS-HGSE Cross Role Cohort has afforded me the opportunity to put the leadership tools and strategies that I am learning at HGSE into practice while also reflecting on my experiences in my internship with my peers and professors. In addition, through my role as a member of the school community, I am able to focus on issues of instructional improvement through the lens of a teacher leader without having the stress of balancing the additional classroom work as most teacher leaders do. I believe through this intense experience of working out of the role as a teacher leader intern for a year, I will be better equipped to work in collaboration with other teachers in improving teaching and learning at a school while working as a leader from in and outside the classroom.

I used to think that people were "born" to be leaders, just as many people would say that someone is a "born teacher." Now, I understand the errors in both ways of thinking; both good teaching and strong leadership can be not only learned, but over a time of reflective practice, both can be continually developed and supported. Through my experiences in the School Leadership program in the Teacher Leadership strand, I have had the opportunity to develop the confidence and the tools that will enable me to collaborate with others to implement and support positive changes within a school community. It is satisfying to know that in the future, I do not have to leave the classroom in order to support improvements in teaching and learning for every student, everywhere, and everyday.