Teaching as inquiry (TAI) supports and informs professional growth cycles to enable teachers to identify and make quite specific changes in teaching to improve outcomes for their learners (Timperley et al., 2020). Inquiry when linked to professional growth cycles, links to a clear moral imperative to improve the life chances of learners (Conner, 2015).

Importantly, TAI can be very effective when it takes an appreciative inquiry approach i.e. a positive focus on what teachers do well and do more of for continuous improvement (Jansen et al., 2010).  Leading system-wide schooling improvement depends on the support provided for small changes by teachers in every learning context, whether that meets agendas such as improving literacy and applications of mathematics or to specific knowledge and skills outcomes in learning areas. The purpose of this paper is to discuss what kind of leadership and support is effective for teacher inquiry that shifts learners’ outcomes.