Distributed Leadership

This report presents the findings from an 18-month, Leadership Foundation funded, research project on collective leadership in UK Higher Education and its development. The overall aim of this project was to develop recommendations on how leadership and leadership development could be enhanced, particularly in terms of encouraging collective engagement with the leadership process. In order to do this we: (a) explored what is understood by the term ‘leadership’ by various institutional actors; (b) investigated the processes by which leadership is distributed at different levels within universities (i.e. school, faculty, executive group, etc.); and (c) examined the way(s) in which leadership development (in its broadest sense) contributes towards improved leadership capability for individuals, groups and the wider organisation.

This paper reports an evaluation of Quality Teaching Action Learning (QTAL) projects conducted at New South Wales (NSW), Australia public (state) primary and secondary schools and explores how distributed leadership facilitated and was an outcome of the QTAL projects. The evaluation encompassed all 50 projects at 82 NSW public schools, and nine of these schools were selected and visited for case study by members of the evaluation team. Data were provided through individual project progress reports, journals, interviews and case studies. Schools used funding provided under the Australian Government Quality Teaching Program to release teams of teachers to undertake approved Quality Teaching Action Learning Projects using the NSW model of pedagogy as a framework. Projects were broadly successful in achieving their aims and distributed leadership and teacher learning were important factors in project planning, implementation, and success. Projects resulted in enhanced distributed leader...

The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of distributed leadership in Public Senior High Schools (SHS) with regard to school improvement. Using the Explanatory Sequential Mixed-Method design, 92 teachers and 4 head masters and 4 assistant head masters were randomly and census sampled. Three research questions were formulated and were analysed using simple percentages, mean and constant comparative thematic approach. The study revealed that generally head and assistant head masters and teachers recognize the practice of distributed leadership style in the SHS that is they perceive distributed leadership as a shared leadership where everyone is considered as a leader and given leadership opportunities. The findings further revealed that traditional and rigid leadership structure, lack of shared responsibility amongst teachers, leaders fear to involve teachers were the dominant challenges of distributed leadership in the study area. The study concluded that majority of...

This study examined the factor structure of the School Counselor Leadership Survey (SCLS). Survey development was a threefold process that resulted in a 39-item survey of 801 school counselors and school counselor supervisors. The exploratory factor analysis indicated a five-factor structure that revealed five key dimensions of school counselor leadership: (a) interpersonal influence, (b) systemic collaboration, (c) resourceful problem solving, (d) professional efficacy, and (e) social justice advocacy. This article discusses implications for practice, research, and training.

The thesis presents (i) conclusions on distributed leadership in organisational change, in particular in transformative contexts, and (ii) a conceptual model for further analysis and research. Empirical cases include 15 years (1990-2005) of leadership practice in organisational development of centres of excellence and relevance in nanoscience, ICT, and Open Systems.

Abstract: This study explores the leadership actions-oriented behavior of school principals in Finland. Actions-orientated behavior
enables the leader to appropriately articulate relations and task orientation to meet the immediate contextual demands and
to accommodate followership toward change and development. The leadership actions-orientated behavior of Finnish school
principals were studied in three schools. In-depth interviews with school actors (principals, vice principals, teachers, special
educators, and nonteaching staff) were conducted to triangulate the analyzed data. It was found that leadership actions-oriented
behavior enabled school leaders to articulate appropriate behavioral patterns to generate motivation and commitment. The
results suggest that actions orientations toward high-on relations enabled leaders to achieve leadership success, while actions
orientations toward high-on task enabled leadership effectiveness. Actions-oriented behavior toward high-on task enables
leadership flexibility with greater leadership elasticity. The results suggest that school actors anticipated a relational approach,
whose actions orientations were high-on task. The results also suggest that relations-oriented behavior is rationally applied by
school leaders who have remained in the organization for a longer time to strengthen the systematic approach. It was found
that leaders’ actions orientation with high-on task were more effective, while leadership actions orientation with high-on
relations generated social harmony. The results suggest that leadership actions-oriented behavioral flexibility and mobility can
be maintained by articulating high relations to low relations and high task to low task, not necessarily from task to relations or
relations to task alone. In doing so, a leader’s personality is prevented from distortions and behavior dysfunction.

Keywords: leadership behavior, actions-oriented behavior, relations-oriented behavior, task-oriented behavior, contextual variation,
leader’s case study, behavioral articulation, Finland, Skills, Ability, Competences and Intelligence (SACI)

This ethnographic study investigates one of the most robust youth-adult school governance model, which was found to distribute leadership and trigger organizational change.  Chapters highlight youth and adult leadership practices and the supporting coursework.  This book advances both the fields of student voice and distributed leadership with a thorough/extensive literature review; chapter on how to study student leadership capacity building; chapter on preparing democratic citizens; and chapters on distributed leadership. You can find this book here: http://www.amazon.com/Student-Voice-School-Governance-Distributing/dp/113885154X

In the wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, most traditional postsecondary internationalization models built around inbound and outbound student mobility are no longer viable. Although the role of mobility as a visible and easily quantifiable manifestation of an institution’s international activities has been greatly diminished, both inbound and outbound mobility will likely continue to form the core of international programs in the foreseeable future – albeit less prominently. However, the current pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of traditional programs to a range of geopolitical forces out of any internationalization leader’s control. This realization now forces these leaders to reprioritize their efforts toward meaningful and sustainable on-campus programs and curricular changes in the interest of preparing students for the immense complexities of today’s global issues and an increasingly unknowable future.

This drastic shift “back home” demands that leaders embrace different competencies, priorities, attitudes, and behaviors and ensure that internationalization can be sustained in an equitable and socially responsive manner. To this end, our paper interrogates and extends traditional concepts of leadership in international higher education and proposes a shift from primarily instrumental strategies toward organizational and curricular changes in the interest of preparing students for the complexities of today’s world. We outline specific leadership dispositions, attributes, and behaviors and propose guidelines for distributed, transformational, and instructional leadership in hopes that they will allow for better transdisciplinary collaboration and meaningful, holistic student engagement and learning with a focus on more accessible, equitable, and socially responsive practices.

The authors argue that both the Standards of Professional Practice proposed by the Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA, 2016) and NAFSA’s International Education Professional Competencies (2017) address advocacy, equity and inclusion, and faculty, student, and community engagement, as well as interpersonal attributes that include intercultural proficiency and empathy. However, the reality of leading an international office often leaves little time to forge meaningful relationships or engage students and faculty. International education leaders further will benefit from developing a deeper understanding of various theoretical concepts to inform their leadership as scholar-practitioners (De Wit, 2017). These constructs allow leaders to better conceptualize and articulate extra and intra-institutional complexities and garner buy-in from a wider range of traditional and nontraditional stakeholders.
Therefore, established top-down leadership with a focus on bureaucratic, administrative, and outwardly-oriented tasks must yield to increasingly relational and inclusive practices and priorities that include community outreach, full integration of international and underserved communities, and the facilitation of impactful intercultural exchange. Refocusing international education efforts toward universally accessible on-campus learning requires that internationalization and institutional leaders jointly redefine what successful international and global learning looks like and establish metrics that account for the qualitative nature of personal growth, understanding of global interdependencies, and intercultural proficiencies. Finally, the authors encourage leaders to expand their understanding of international education to include local Indigenous communities.

This paper proposes three principal leadership frames for senior international officers and their teams to lead on-campus internationalization: distributed, transformational, and instructional. These three frames, when practiced in concert, promise to provide opportunities for all students to engage in formative and impactful international and global learning while addressing pervasive questions surrounding inclusive and equitable access to international education.

The core competencies required of internationalization leaders will likely remain the same in the foreseeable future. However, embracing the relational aspects of leading, empowering others to promote and support international and global learning on campus, and modeling the desired dispositions, attitudes, and behaviors of informed and culturally proficient global citizens promises to bring about more equitable, accessible, and just educational opportunities for all students.

This chapter argues that leadership is a religious phenomenon. It makes this case by drawing on some of the most popular leadership concepts: charismatic leadership, transformational leadership, spiritual leadership, servant leadership, authentic leadership and distributed leadership.

Establishing a process of shared governance requires effective management, implementation of a suitable framework, multidisciplinary working, examination of its structure and culture. Shared governance is an ongoing process that requires constant assessment and reassessment so that administration may be responsive to a changing environment.

Generational diversity is the new normal in most organizations. Millennials now make up the majority of the US workforce. As Baby Boomers enter retirement and Millennials enter leadership positions, the paradigms and models of leadership must be reexamined, and possibly swept away. Shared Leadership may hold a prominent position in the organization of the near future based on observations about Millennials leadership preferences.

Whilst there has been a significant increase in interest about the leadership, management and administrative role of school leaders in African countries like Cameroon in recent years, there is a paucity of research. This article reports findings from an interview, observational and document analysis study of 25 Cameroon school leaders about how they enact the leadership, management and administrative roles and responsibilities of school leaders. The roles were complex and demanding and being developed to take into account the shift in focus from management and administration to leadership. A distributed view of leadership was emerging and included capacity building, succession planning, talent management promoting democracy and encouraging distributed leadership practices. Recommendations for leadership development are provided.

The Coalition Government has promised a systemic overhaul of services for pupils with Special Educational Needs (DfE 2011). Although the precise implications for SENCOs are not yet known, the draft proposal indicates the government’s intention for increased parental choice over provision and ‘sharper accountability’ in schools. Drawing on data from national surveys of SENCOs in 2007 and 2012, this presentation explores divergent aspirations and concerns about forthcoming changes to the role of SENCOs.

The study presented here examines the efforts of one principal and the team she relied upon to create a more inclusive and high-performing school in a large urban school district. The goals, actions, and responsibilities of the team are described, as well as the daily challenges associated with school administration and special education. In doing so, this article highlights how a distributed approach to leadership can enable a principal and teachers to build teacher capacity, adapt to challenges, and ultimately serve all students in an effective and inclusive manner. The timeliness of this research is significant given an increasingly complex and accountability driven system that makes school leadership ever more difficult, particularly when attempting to promote inclusion. This study has important implications for how principals call upon school staff to support inclusive reform, and it also highlights the role principals can play when seeking to distribute leadership and enhance school capacity to serve all children. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) established an expectation that decisions related to how students with disabilities are served and the location of those services are collaboratively made among parents, teachers, school psychologists, the local school district, and the student. Embedded in this expectation is an assumption that each stake-holder has specific knowledge, expertise, and experience which meaning

In this study, the relations between value-based leadership and distributed leadership behaviors of school principals
were defined on the basis of the views of the primary school teachers. A casual research was designed for
this. 225 primary school teachers were took part in study group determined the maximum variation sampling
method. Data were gathered by scale of Values-Based Leadership and Distributed Leadership Inventory. Confirmatory
and exploratory factor analyses were used to define construct validity of the scales. Pearson’s Product
Moment Correlation and Multiple Linear Regression Analysis techniques were used in the analysis processes.
Findings showed that there were .74 positive correlation between Value Based Leadership and Distributed Leadership.
The results of regression analysis indicated that the distributed leadership was explained by value-based
leadership from 27% to 43%. Four dimensions for distributed were leadership were team work (41%), support
(47%), vision creating (43%) and control (27% of).

Ce travail de recherche restitue le résultat de notre tentative de compréhension des causes de la sclérose du développement des technologies de l’Information et de la Communication en République Démocratique du Congo, nonobstant le fait que la technologie de l'information est un bien collectif international à la portée de toutes les nations, sans exclusives. Il est aussi question d’analyser le rapport entre la vision du développement des TIC en RDC partagée à l’échelle nationale et le développement global du pays, en suivant une épistémologie et une méthodologie de recherche scientifique claire.

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This research is the result of our attempt to understand the causes of the sclerosis of the development of information and communication technologies in the Democratic Republic of Congo, notwithstanding the fact that information technology is an international collective good within the reach of all nations, without exclusivity. It is also a question of analyzing the relationship between the vision of the development of ICT in the DRC shared at the national level and the overall development of the country, following a epistemology and a methodology of scientific research clear.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the issues and challenges faced by headteachers in practicing the suggested  distributed leadership (DL) approach in three primary schools to their
middle layer leaders.Design/methodology/approach – The study employed a case study design and data were collected through semi-structured interviews. A total of three headteachers were interviewed in examining and exploring challenges within the DL practices. The transcripts from the semi-structured interviews
formed the basis of the findings. Findings – The findings suggest that senior teachers lack confidence in making decisions and rely on
the consent from headteachers even though they are empowered to make their own decisions. Another significant issue faced by headteachers when distributing their leadership is the ability, expertise,
experience, and willingness of teachers to hold leadership roles and responsibilities. Originality/value – The results are important since there have been few empirical studies on the issues and challenges faced by headteachers in practising DL approach in primary schools in the
context of Malaysia. This initiative sidelines the traditional school leadership approach which emphasises on the accountability of headteachers as the sole school leader.
Keywords Teachers, School leadership, Distributed leadership, Headteachers

This précis tables a preliminary statement of a personal philosophy of leadership. The statement is informed by theoretical perspectives on leadership—themselves based on new-wave leadership literature; key leadership influences; cultural identity; trends in the development of post-bureaucratic organizations; and sundry work experiences.

ÖZET Bu araştırmanın amacı meslek liselerinde görev yapan alan şeflerinin okul yöneticilerinin dağıtımcı liderliğine ilişkin görüşlerini incelemektir. Çalışmada nitel araştırma yöntemi benimsenmiş, çalışma grubu amaçlı örnekleme yöntemlerinden maksimum çeşitlilik örneklemesi ile belirlenmiştir. Katılımcılar, Ankara ilinde 2013-2014 eğitim öğretim bahar yarıyılında meslek liselerinde görev yapan toplam 15 alan şefidir. Veriler, yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formu ile toplanmış ve veriler, nitel veri çözümleme tekniklerinden betimsel analiz ile çözümlenmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda; alan şeflerine verilen yetki ile yüklenen sorumluluk arasında bir dengesizlik olduğu, okulda alan şefleri ile öğretmenler arasındaki işbirliğinin yüksek düzeyde iken yönetimle alan şefleri arasındaki işbirliğinin orta düzeyde olduğu; okul müdürlerinin öğretmenlerin liderlik becerilerinin gelişimi için çaba göstermedikleri, okul müdürlerinin okulu geliştirmek için paydaşları dahil etme konusunda yeterince fırsat vermediği ve bu fırsatın da gelen fikirleri dinleme boyutunda kaldığı elde edilen bulgular arasındadır. Dolayısıyla meslek lisesi okul müdürlerinin, dağıtımcı liderlik davranışlarını sergilemede yetersiz kaldıkları söylenebilir. ABSTRACT The purpose of the research is to investigate opinions of the chiefs of departments who are working in vocational high schools about school principals' distributive leadership. In this research qualitative research methods were used, work qroup were determined according to maximum diversity sample which is one of the purposful sample group methods. Participants are fifteen chiefs of departments who are working in vocational high schools in Ankara during the spring semester of 2013-2014 school year. Data were collected via semi structured interview form and data were analyzed by descriptive analyzing methods which is one of the qualitative data analyzing methods. As a result of the study, some of the findings are as follows; there is imbalancing between the responsibilty that the chief of the departments are expected and their given power, coorparetion between teachers and chief of department is in high level but the level of the coorperation between chiefs of departments and administration is in middle level, school principals do not effort for development of teachers' leadership abilities, school principals do not give enough opportunity for other shareholders for development of schools and these opportunities are just stands like listening to these ideas. Consequently, it can be said that principals of vocational high schools are insufficant to show their abilities about distributive leadership.

This article explores the relationship between distributed leadership and organizational change. It draws upon the existing literature to consider whether distributed forms of leadership influence development and change in schools. The article examines the research base relating to distributed leadership and organizational outcomes. It focuses on how different patterns or configurations of distributed leadership contribute to organizational development. The article concludes by highlighting issues that require further study and more empirical confirmation.

The citizens of Western societies intuitively value the Utopian, democratic, egalitarianism that is embedded in the leadership and actions of both individuals and organisations. Leadership is a complex relational equation that takes into account the aspirations of the affected parties, but some organisations propose that leadership can be learned. For example, the Australian military advertises that the Royal Military College Duntroon is, “Where Leaders are Made” (Australian Army Television Advertisement, 2015). If leadership were only that simple! However, such is the power of leadership that its foil, management, is often relegated to a far lesser status in literature on the subject, and leadership is often projected as distributed.

Our understandings of leadership have changed profoundly since Taylor developed his “scientific” approach to organisational management in the 1890s (Taylor, 1911). Ciulla (2003) in her developmental description of leadership showed how leadership morphed to a modern description incorporated in a mutual purpose equation. She argued that the perception of leadership has significantly altered from a 1920s perspective. Specifically, leadership as the ability to impress one’s will on those led and induce obedience, respect, loyalty and cooperation evolved to the more recent position of leadership as being a transactional relationship between leaders and followers who expect changes that reflect their mutual purposes (adapted from Ciulla, 2003). In schools it is important to note that the often-ignored concept of moral altruism (improving students’ life options) plays an important role in the mutual purpose equation for teachers and school administrators (Harris & MacNeill, 2015).

In the unfolding Maltese education scenario of decentralization and school networking, I
explore distributed leadership as it occurs at the college level through the leaders’ narrative
and performance in an investigation of the power relations among the different-tiered leaders. This article uses data from the case study of a Maltese college consisting of four primary and three secondary schools. Using these data from an ongoing doctoral study, all
subjected to narrative and discourse analysis, I adopt the stance of a ‘story teller’, as I craft
a narrative from the data to represent a ‘play of voices’. Foucault’s theories of power, governmentality, discourse and subjectivation are used to explore the unfolding of power relations. Analysis reveals a dichotomy between the leaders’ narrative of distributed leadership
and their performance of it. There is the presence of a raging battle among the discourses
of collegiality and isolationism, through the discourse of distributed leadership, and within
the discourse of educational leadership itself. Distributed leadership is a challenge to perform at the college level; with resistance being demonstrated in overt or more subtle ways
along the different hierarchies, although power does circulate. This article contributes to
educational leadership literature with regard to the power relations among top educational
leaders in a networked school setting.

Leading pedagogical change requires collective effort. This article critically
analyses how pedagogical leadership was distributed among teacher leaders, middle leaders and the executive in two Australian primary schools during a period of mandatory curriculum change. Drawing upon the theory of practice architectures (Kemmis et al., 2014), this research provides new empirical insights into how the influence and action of distributed pedagogical leadership practices can enable and constrain teacher professional learning during curriculum and pedagogical change. It explores the complex tensions between empowerment, loyalty and trust within leadership hierarchies in two contexts. The findings indicate that authentic collegiality can be fostered through professional learning and
collective pedagogical leadership. The result of the symbiotic relationship between leadership and professional learning is increased trust and support for student learning.

This narrative study of four administrators in British Columbia was an initial investigation of distributed leadership using their provincial leadership standards as an organizing framework. Participants described their understanding and practice of distributed leadership. Three themes were identified: the importance of (a) sharing vision for distributed leadership, (b) leading with character and integrity, and (c) helping others find their leadership voices. Participants’ use of formal structural designs for creating and sustaining distributed leadership reflected a set of purposeful administrative practices of distributing leadership, particularly when it pertained to distribution of responsibility for developing instructional leadership capacity in their schools. The practice of establishing distributed leadership was found to be coherent with the development of a sustainable learning community and with the moral stewardship emphasis of the provincial standards.

3rd International Conference on Data Science and Machine Learning (DSML 2022) will act as a
major forum for the presentation of innovative ideas, approaches, developments, and research projects in
the areas of Data Science and Machine Learning. It will also serve to facilitate the exchange of
information between researchers and industry professionals to discuss the latest issues and advancement
in the area of Data Science and Machine Learning.
Authors are solicited to contribute to the conference by submitting articles that illustrate research results,
projects, surveying works and industrial experiences that describe significant advances in Data Science
and Machine Learning.

This paper seeks to find complementarities and make contributions to the field of organization development (OD) from the new field of leadership-as-practice (L-A-P), and in so doing, enhance the development of OD in practice.  Rather than looking for leadership in people, especially in their traits and behaviors, leadership-as-practice looks for it in everyday practice, in the spaces between people, and in emergent dynamic social interactions.  To find leadership, we look to the practice within which it is occurring.  The paper explores these premises by first discussing some of the principal classifications of OD throughout its history.  It then offers ways in which L-A-P can potentially enhance OD in both theory and application.

Leadership elasticity enhances leadership style flexibility and mobility to enable educational leaders to maintain appropriate leadership equilibrium. The essential of leadership elasticity contributes towards organizational effectiveness by followership’s maintenance through appropriate expansion and contraction of relations and task behavioural orientation simultaneously, arrive at optimally balanced leadership equilibrium. This study aimed to explain leadership elasticity in achieving leadership equilibrium through relations and task behaviour orientating style-flex by assimilating the followership variables of task, timing, people, and trust. The study suggest both relations and task behavioural orientation is essential for a leader to bring about organizational effectiveness and social harmony. Moreover, Leadership elasticity expanding toward relations-oriented enabled less elasticity, while, expansion toward task-oriented behaviour enabled high elasticity. Leadership contextual intelligence and contextual experiences are both essential in identifying the variations in the contextual settings. This enables appropriate leadership approach of style-flex through the leadership behavioural orientations towards timing, trusting, tasking and people. The variations in the degree of elasticity can cause disturbances by frequent behavioural changes in an attempt to fit in the situation. This multi attempt behavioural changes can be the major cause of style-drift.

Keywords :Leadership Elasticity; Leadership readiness; leadership behavioural pattern; relations and Task-oriented behaviour; leadership appropriateness; leadership flexibility; leadership style-flex; leadership style-fix; Leadership style-drift; leadership multi-style flex