The term "teacher leadership" is not without its problems, since some interpret it to have both corporate and hierarchical implications. Stewardship as Teacher Leadership: Portraits from the Profession discusses the impact of changing that language to stewardship, a term that is more inclusive, more professional, and more morally-based. At a time when the work of teachers is critiqued and denigrated, the concept of stewardship within the profession better supports the efforts of all teachers, but particularly early career teachers. Stewards have the best interests of the profession at the forefront of their actions.

Through the "portraits" of a variety of teachers, readers of Stewardship as Teacher Leadership will engage with and recognize how teachers are stewards as they make intentional and deliberate choices in their daily work that have lasting impacts on their relationships with colleagues, their school programs, and the profession in a multiplicity of ways that traditional teacher leadership models often miss.