This study sought to tease out the antecedents of collective efficacy so they can be used to develop teacher professional learning programmes that accentuate the collective. Teachers' sense of their collective efficacy is one of the most important in-school influences on student achievement and it demands the attention of school leaders and researchers invested in teacher professional learning. The data were gathered from focus group interviews with leaders of school-based teams of teachers. Evidence from this study points to the importance of communicative competency in these teacher leaders that enables the voice of all team members to be heard. This equitable communicative space provides for the expression of language that mediates and scaffolds teachers professional learning in their zone of proximal development. This type of professional learning environment nurtures a sense of collective efficacy among teacher teams. The findings of the study have implications for the preparation of the next generation of teacher leaders.