Collage-Inspired Dialogues on the Identities of Informal Academic Leaders for Learning

Leadership for learning is about how educational leaders contribute to student learning. In reviewing the scholarship on higher education, there seems no significant body of literature on leadership for learning. These limited studies focus on formal academic leaders appointed to officially designated leadership positions. We argue that leadership for learning also exists outside the formal academic leadership positions and can be located in the practice of academics who do not occupy traditional leadership positions, namely, informal academic leaders. Inbanathan, Makie, and Anita are three academics who do not hold formal academic leadership positions. Through the arts-based educational research method of collage inquiry and dialogue, this study explores Anita’s and Makie’s identities as leaders for learning with their critical friend, Inbanathan, guided by the question: “What can we learn about the identities of informal academic leaders for learning from collage-inspired dialogues?” After examining the transcripts of the dialogues resulting from the collages, we clustered key aspects of the dialogues thematically. We proffer that collage-inspired discussions open up possibilities for academics to visualise and discuss their professional practices in expansive ways that have the potential to make visible the multiple selves of leaders in leading learning.