Virtual teacher leadership: Enacting leader identity in digital spaces
Article / Journal
Author(s) / editor(s):
Norma Ghamrawi
,
Tarek Shal
,
and Najah A. R. Ghamrawi
Year: 2026
Language(s): English
Abstract:
This qualitative study explores how classroom teachers enact leader identities within virtual communities of practice (vCoPs), introducing the concept of virtual teacher leadership (VTL) as an emergent and affectively mediated identity process. Thirteen actively teaching participants from eight Arab countries were recruited from a global vCoP and engaged in in-depth semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis revealed five interrelated dimensions of VTL: psychological safety as the foundation for leadership emergence, relational affirmation as a mechanism of identity recognition, quiet authority enacted through invisible labor, emotional labor as a pathway to legitimacy, and marginal positioning as a source of agency. Contrary to dominant narratives of teacher leadership that emphasize visibility, strategic action, or alignment with institutional goals, VTL emerged as a decentralized, relational practice grounded in care, presence, and sustained contribution. Leadership was not self-assumed but conferred through peer acknowledgment and enacted through iterative acts of trust and support. These findings reframe leadership not as a static role but as a fluid process of becoming—situated within digital ecologies and shaped by peripheral professional identities. The study challenges conventional frameworks of teacher leadership and advances a more nuanced, context-responsive understanding of leadership in networked professional spaces.
https://doi.org/10.1080/21532974.2026.2651090
Post created by: Virginia Signorini