Distributed leadership theory is an emerging conceptualization that relies on the guidance. The concept then lay dormant for more than three decades until it surfaced briefly once again in social psychology, and then again in the early1990s in organisation theory. First, to examine the relationship between shared leadership and distributed leadership, which, despite having many similar aspects in theory and practice, are defined as separate concepts. That is to say, distributed leadership addresses the entirety of human resources in organizations, especially the academic staff in educational organizations as leaders. Fiedlers 1967 two factor model divides leaders into relationship motivated and task motivated groups and suggests that leaders should be placed in the situation which is favourable to their style.
The technical term used to designate all the studies offered in a given school, to be distinguished from 1 the curriculum, meaning the group of studies systematically arranged for any pupil or group of pupils. This is followed by an examination of the theories of leadership, principles and styles of leadership. The first known reference to distributed leadership was in the field of social psychology in the early1950s. Our early case studies have identified five common elements that seem to characterize these systems. A qualitative analysis of distributed leadership and teacher.
Alternative approaches for studying shared and distributed. Variabilities and dualities in distributed leadership university of. National association of elementary school principals,2001. Still, writings about distributed leadership often focus rather narrowly on the array of individuals that take responsibility for leadership and management work. This academic evaluation examines recent theoretical developments in the study of educational leadership in school management. There is a relationship between shared leadership and distributed leadership, but this relationship is not very distinctive. Two popular interpretations of distributed leadership theory are found in the work of peter gronn and james spillane. It is the leadership idea of the moment, even though its genesis can be traced back to the field of organizational theory in the mid 1960s barnard. Transactional leadership theory meaning, its assumptions. Common elements of distributed leadership systems while many organizations are experimenting with selected distributed leadership practices, some have woven together multiple practices into broader distributed leadership systems. If leaders constantly delegate, work just gets pushed down the chain of command, causing people who have got less time and earn less money to complete the work.
Redefinition of leadership and its implications for. In the last half decade, distributed leadership is a concept that has been much written about although relatively little researched. Moos 1998 raise a similar point in their comparison of the english and danish. Distributed leadership is a conceptual and analytical approach to understanding how the work of leadership takes place among the people and in context of a complex organization. Leadership practice centers not only on what people do, but how and why they do it. The lack of positive and effective leadership is a key reason why many talented workers leave the organization.
Of the abundance of terms used to describe this phenomenon, shared and distributed are the most prevalent. Its success depends on the shared vision and work of leaders across sectors. It begins with a concise overview of the meaning and concept of leadership in terms of research, theory, and practice. Leadership is one of the most critical behavioral processes of all human activities, survival, development and continuity of civilization depending upon the qualities of leadership. E leadership is defined as a social influence process mediated by ait to produce a change in attitudes, feelings, thinking, behavior, andor performance with individuals, groups, andor organizations. Principles of the distributed leadership theory the. Southern new hampshire university, malaysia abstract this research intends to explain effective leadership and how it can bring positive. Distributed leadership richard bolden the concept of distributed leadership has become popular in recent years as an alternative to models of leadership that concern themselves primarily with the attributes and behaviours of individual leaders e. Distributed leadership in educational institutions eric. Authentic leadership, a relatively new leadership theory, is a construct that incorporates traits, behaviors, styles and skills to promote ethical and honest behavior and thus has greater positive longterm outcomes for leaders, their followers and their organizations. Theories of educational leadership education oxford. She notes that distributed leadership can be seen as part of a wider discussion of shared leadership. Richard bolden is a research fellow at the centre for leadership studies, university of exeter, uk.
Review the concepts and research supporting empowering and distributive leadership. Distributive leadership june 20 2 linkedin slideshare. Distributed leadership has the advantage of increasing initiative, creativity and spontaneity and therefore individuals have the power to influence events. Distributed leadership model regards the management and operations of.
For our purposes here, lets use the term shared leadership to refer to that form of leadership where leadership is essentially conceived of as an activity that can be shared or. Macbeath, in international encyclopedia of education third edition, 2010. Learn how education leadership improves student learning. According to participant views, administrators have high levels of shared leadership and distributed leadership. June 2003 centre for leadership studies university of exeter crossmead barley lane dunsford hill exeter ex4 1tf. Fostering distributed leadership in early childhood. A qualitative analysis of distributed leadership and. In fact in any given situation where a group of people want to accomplish a common goal, a leader may be required. The distributed leadership among teachers education essay.
In a university setting, distributive leadership focuses upon the collegial sharing of knowledge, practice and re. Distributed leadership distributed leadership theory is an emerging conceptualization that relies on the guidance and direction of multiple human resources. In a university setting, distributive leadership focuses upon the. However, shared leadership definitions often include the term. You want to have it distributed throughout the company to give people directed responsibilities on. In 1960, douglus and mcgregor described this leadership theory that the activities of leaders are based on their thinking and considerations about the individuals at work. Second, to compare the two approaches and dissipate the theoretical contradictions. What is instructional leadership and why is it so important. A critique of the vroomyetton contingency model of. Distributed leadership is a recent antidote, or more correctly a series of antidotes, to the work in the heroics of. One of the most restricted definitions of distributed leadership is that of kayworth and leidner 2000, who define distributed leadership as leadership from a remote physical location, using only technological means of communication email, webbased etc. Both gronn and spillane indicate that distributed leadership has its theo retical roots in.
Leadership is an integral part of work and social life. Difference between transactional and transformational leaders. This multiplecase study examined how three successful principals of middle schools in illinois utilized distributed leadership practices within those schools, examining the actions or. Lacking solid evidence to answer these questions, those who have sought to make the case for greater attention and investment in leadership as a pathway for largescale education improvement. However, empirical work on how leadership is distributed within more and less. Distributed leadership is a framework for understanding how the work of leadership is shared within complex organizations.
Much of the debate about distributed leadership as an aspirational and postheroic approach through which more equitable and inclusive working practices may be achieved can be somewhat misleading. Early leadership theories focused on what qualities distinguished between leaders and followers, while subsequent theories looked at other variables such as situational factors and skill levels. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Contingency theories of leadership focus on particular variables related to the environment that might determine which style of leadership is best suited for a particular work situation. Analysis of the relationship between shared leadership and. His current research explores the interface and interplay between individual and collective approaches to leadership and leadership development and how they contribute towards social change. Hopes that the transformation of schools lies with exceptional leaders have proved both unrealistic and unsustainable. Apr 29, 2011 distributive leadership distributive leadership focuses on collaboration, shared purpose, responsibility and recognition of leadership irrespective of role or position within an organisation. It pushes the locus of leadership beyond principals, and senior managers, extending leadership roles spillane, 2006 to middle management and. However, as accountability stays with the leader, individuals are shielded both from the risks and the rewards. Understanding distributed leadership in this section, the nature of distributed leadership is described, a conceptual model is presented and a taxonomy suggested. A body of leadership has multiple individuals who have the tools and skills to contribute to the success of the organization. Distributed leadership1 richard bolden university of exeter. You want to have it distributed throughout the company to give people directed responsibilities on tasks for which they are responsible.
Distributed leadership, however, is not the only theory or approach to call for such a reframing of how we understand leadership. Building on our performing arts programs interest in generational change with the nonprofit arts sector, the hewlett foundation commissioned open mind consulting and informing change to develop a set of case studies examining how some nonprofit organizations are. A critique of the vroomyetton contingency model of leadership behavior. In this context, leadership isnt about being on a higher level of a pyramid.
These leadership styles may seem contradictory, but they are in fact complementary as formal leaders might play an important role in distributing leadership within a group. The only transaction between the leader and the followers is the money which the followers receive for their compliance and effort. Aug 25, 2015 distributed leadership unlocks incredible potential for collaboration, autonomy, and networked organising. He also described the behaviour of leaders in two contrasting sets of bliefs. Understand several key means for distributing power. Alternative approaches for studying shared and distributed leadership abstract scholars hold different perspectives about leadership that are not limited to a formally appointed leader. Download fulltext pdf distributed leadership article pdf available in the educational forum 692. Building on activity theory and theories of distributed cognition, this paper develops a distributed perspective on school leadership as a frame for studying leadership practice, arguing that leadership practice is constituted in the interaction of school leaders, followers, and the situation. The special 40th anniversary issue of the journal, published in 2012, featured a discussion of the distinction between solo and distributed leadership, by megan crawford. Learn more about the essential qualities and behaviors that characterize this type of distributed leadership in early childhood. While many different leadership theories have emerged, most. Consideration is given to the similarities and differences between dl and related concepts including shared, collective, collaborative, emergent, co and democratic.
Delegation is about getting others to complete your work for you, and this is not a healthy culture to develop with leaders in your school. Leadership is often enacted with those not in official leadership positions, thus distributed leadership examines enactments of leadership activity rather than roles. We chose the term e leadership to incorporate the new emerging context for examining leadership. Distributed leadership in which the leadership functions are shared, employs theory y as the leadership enables diverse individuals to contribute to the process of subtleties of leadership to shape collective action instead of the traditional vertical leadership process which separates leaders from followers as mutually exclusive categories. The idea of leadership as distributed across multiple people and situations has proven to be a more useful framework for understanding the realities of schools and how they might be improved. The theory assumes that subordinates can be motivated by simple rewards. However, most conceptions of distributed leadership tend to be much broader than this. Theories informing leadership standards chapters theoristsresearchers theory postulate organizational area implications for leadership standards 1 6 chapter 2 barth bennis characteristics of effective leaders leadership defined leaders should be servants, coaching, influencing, and empowering subordinates to participate in building learning. Distributive leadership distributive leadership focuses on collaboration, shared purpose, responsibility and recognition of leadership irrespective of role or position within an organisation. Leadership as a collective social process emerging through the interaction of multiple actors is a recent addition to discussions about heroic versions i. Distributed leadership distributed leadership is first and foremost about leadership practice rather than leaders or their roles, functions, routines, and structures. It has drawn the scholarly attention, because of its universal and indispensable character. The definition and theory behind this new leadership approach posted on july 30, 2015 by aai staff posted in uncategorized 1 comment v many companies are moving away from old structures that involve topdown leadership in favor of a newer approach called distributed leadership.
Though developed and primarily used in education research, it has since been applied to other domains, including business and even tourism. Standards for what principals should know and be able to do. The distributed leadership theory holds that educational leadership is often not held in one person, but is instead distributed among multiple individuals. This approach argues for a more systemic perspective, whereby leadership responsibility is dissociated from formal organisational. Other behavioural leadership theories include pathgoal theory, leadership substitutes theory and normative contingency theory mcclesky, 2014. Distributed leadership means mobilising leadership expertise at all levels in the school in order to generate more opportunities for change and to build the capacity for improvement. The author in this edited book argues that leadership should be focused on teaching and learning and, in particular, pedagogical practices. Though they are important considerations, leadership practice is still the starting point. It is generally agreed, that dist ributed leadership is better described than defined as it is context specific. Relationship between distributed leadership and affective commitment john matthew trammell school of education, carson newman university april 2016 the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between distributed leadership and teacher affective commitment in public and private schools. Spillane and diamond 2007, cited under empirical work on distributed leadership in primary and elementary school. The results of the research contribute to existing literature in the areas of leadership theory, human and social capital theory, knowledge management, human resource development, qualitative business research, and literature on the role of learning executives.
Given that everyone has the capacity for leadership at some level, it would seem that the absence of leadership in an organization shouldnt be a problem. Understanding leadership practice is imperative if research is to generateusableknowledge aboutand forschool leadership. Interest in leadership increased during the early part of the twentieth century. Sep 29, 2014 distributed leadership means mobilising leadership expertise at all levels in the school in order to generate more opportunities for change and to build the capacity for improvement. The leader plus aspect posits leadership activity as a whole is stretched, or distributed, across many people. Leadership is related to other management concepts such as motivation, communication. The emphasis is upon interdependent interaction and practice rather than individual and independent actions associated with those with formal leadership roles or. Spillane, halverson and diamond 2004 refer to leadership as distributed practice. Leadership for this movement is bigger than one person or institution. Distributed leadership is a result of reflecting the cognizance on organizational management regarding the view that leadership roles and positions should be shared. This view of leadership allows the organization to benefit from the combined expertise and joint interaction of school leaders and professional colleagues.
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