This is an action-based study that was conducted in four schools in Kazakhstan with the purpose to facilitate teacher leadership for sustainable improvement of practice and enhancing the teacher’s role in education reform in Kazakhstan. By drawing on a non-positional approach to teacher leadership, this study sought bottom-up approaches to educational reform, school leadership and professional development in schools in Kazakhstan. The nine-month intervention programme, which was called the Teacher Leadership for Learning and Collaboration, introduced strategies and created conditions for teachers to lead educational improvement at classroom, school and system level. This has implications for a wider societal development. With the dissolution of Soviet Union, Kazakhstan has been undergoing transition for the last few decades. In the new era, the country is seeking the revival of its national identity, inclusion of its citizens and economic competitiveness, wherein educational improvement has become the country’s top priority. The outcomes of this study indicate that educational improvement requires building local capacity by empowering teachers to lead learning and innovation within and outside their schools. Such a grassroots movement requires systemic and systematic facilitation in schools in Kazakhstan. Ongoing practice-oriented critical reflection, focused action, horizontal communication and school networking can enable teachers and school leadership team members to develop their understanding and foster participatory practices within schools. The study employed a critical participatory action research approach that enabled the building of context-sensitive knowledge and included the voices and reflections of the participants involved in this research. Data were collected through multiple research tools, analysed both during and after the intervention process and presented in the form of a critical narrative to depict the nuances of local reality. The outcomes of this study suggest that teachers can innovate, engage in creative pedagogical practice and lead educational improvement, which requires developing strategies and involving all stakeholders in facilitating teacher leadership.