Training Associates

Dr. Thomas R. Feller, Jr. currently serves as the Director of Professional Learning and Leadership Development with Pitt County Schools in Greenville, North Carolina, a district of approximately 38 schools and approximately 24,000 students. His primary responsibility is as a co-director of the district's R3: Recruit, Retain, Reward Framework, focusing on the development of advanced teacher roles and career pathways for teacher leaders in the district. He specializes in coaching and training teacher and school leaders and developing systems and personnel to support those leaders. Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Dr. Feller began his teaching career in Florida in 1999 and has served in North Carolina since 2003 as a classroom teacher, school administrator, and district administrator. During his career, he has overseen the district's Race to the Top grant, Teacher Incentive Fund grant, Instructional Coaching program, PBIS program, Teacher Leadership Institute, and The Academy for Transformational School Leaders, to name just a few.

Dr. Feller has an undergraduate degree in K-12 Music Education and Musical Theatre from Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida and a Masters of School Administration from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. He earned his Doctor of Education degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in the Curriculum & Instruction department in 2020. In his dissertation, Dr. Feller examined teacher leader identity, exploring the ways teacher leaders view teacher leadership in general and how they understand themselves as leaders, with a goal to inform and guide the development of effective systems and structures to develop teacher leaders. His research interests in teacher leader identity development, transformational professional learning , adult development, and the development of self-directedness in individuals.

He is an active member of ASCD, NCASCD, and Learning Forward.

Publications:

Feller, Jr., T. (2013). Bringing great teachers into high-needs schools. Educational Leadership, 71(2), Online Edition.

Feller Jr, T. (2020). Teacher Leaders' Conceptualization of Teacher Leadership and Individual Teacher Leader Identity [Dissertation, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill]. https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/dissertations/js956n22r?locale=en

Feller, Jr., T., & Brown, S., (2018). Expanding the professional influence, capacity, and compensation of teacher leaders in Pitt County Schools. NCASCD Newsletter, Spring 2018, 13-18.

Feller, Jr., T., Brown, S., and Bowers, L., (2018, June 28). Developing Self-Directed Teacher Leaders [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.habitsofmindinstitute.org/articles-research-blogs/

Feller, Jr., T., and Gibbs-Griffith, B. (2007). Teaching content through the arts: Bulldog Beat. Educational Leadership, 64(8), 48-49.

Feller, Jr., T., Smith, A. & Bowers, L. (2019). When teachers become solutions to the problems schools face. NCASCD Newsletter, Fall 2019, 7-11.

Feller, Jr., T., Smith, A., and Bowers, L. (2019). When Teachers Become Solutions to the Problems Schools Face [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.habitsofmindinstitute.org/when-teachers-become-solutions-to-the-problems-schools-face/

Special Qualifications:

Dr. Feller is a certified coach in the multiple assessment instruments, including the Leadership Circle Profile through The Leadership Circle, Emotional Intelligence 2.0 through MHS, Everything DiSC through the Center for Leadership Studies, and the entire Benchmarks suite of assessments throughout the Center for Creative Leadership, Addition, he holds training certifications from the Institute for Habits of Mind, MiraVia (Data Driven Dialogue), The Center for Leadership Studies (Situational Leadership), Vital Smarts (Crucial Conversations, Crucial Accountability, and Influencer), the Arbinger Institute (Outward Mindset in Education, Developing an Outward Mindset, Living with An Outward Mindset, and Outward Leadership), and Polarity Partnerships