The aim of this paper is to review conceptual and empirical literature on the concept of distributed leadership (DL) in order to identify its origins,key arguments and areas for further blogger.comeration is given to the similarities and differences between DL and Sep 01, · The aim of this paper is to review conceptual and empirical literature on the concept of distributed leadership (DL) in order to identify its origins, key arguments and areas for further work Author: Richard Bolden Jan 20, · As pointed out by Harris (), distributed leadership provides capacity building to sustain improvement efforts and manage changes because the practice of distributed leadership creates opportunities for people in both formal and informal leadership roles to work together in collaborative and supportive ways
Literature review | ALTC: Distributed Leadership
Koemhong Sol International Christian University Tokyo, Japan January 20, Several forms of leadership are discussed in the literature and have been practiced within schools and across different school levels. Some of those include transformative leadership, strategic leadership, distributed leadership, and participative leadership, distributed leadership literature review, among others. Unlike other forms of leadership, distributed leadership is primarily concerned with the interactive and interdependent practice of leadership rather than the roles and responsibilities of those who have a formally assigned leadership position.
To better understand the concept of distributed leadership, this article first reviews some literature on the topic and then offers some recommendations for practice. The concept of distributed leadership has grown in popularity in recent years and has been practiced in many organizations, particularly in school settings. Distributed leadership is often referred to as shared leadership, team leadership, situational leadership, or democratic leadership by many people; these types of leadership are, however, not synonyms of distributed leadership Spillane, ; James Spillane, a leading expert in distributed leadership, considers distributed leadership as another way of distributed leadership literature review about leadership practice, which involves significant interactions between leaders, followers, and aspects of their situations Spillane, He stresses that better school leadership needs to involve multiple leaders who take leadership roles across school levels.
Leithwood et al. Distributed leadership, therefore, focuses on interactions of those who have both formal and informal leadership roles rather than their actions Bennett et al. The idea of distributed leadership is not new; it has been embraced by scholars and practitioners for many decades Bolden, According to Odurothe origin of the distributed leadership concept can be dated back as far as B.
However, Harriswho based on the work of Gibbsproposes that its theorization can be traced back as far as the mids and possibly earlier. Later on, several notable researchers such as Alma Harris ; ; ;James Spillane ;Kenneth LeithwoodNigel BennettRichard Bolden ; ; have conducted studies on this leadership concept and have provided a distributed leadership literature review understanding of the theoretical development of distributed leadership.
Harris and Spillane and Distributed leadership literature review suggest three reasons for its current popularity. This leadership has replaced the old form of leadership that depends much on a leader or a small group of leaders with a wider leadership team. This trend forced schools to restructure their leadership teams and create new roles to respond to new needs.
Harris and Spillane point out that in a more complex world of education, the practice of leadership will undoubtedly require a variety of skills and expertise as well as different forms of leadership to meet new challenges and needs. Finally and perhaps most importantly, distributed leadership is proved to have applied power.
More and more studies have shown a significantly positive relationship between distributed leadership practice and organizational improvements. For example, Harris and Leithwood et al. Spillane advocates that distributed leadership is the leadership practice that involves significant interactions with three vital elements, specifically leaders, followers, and their situations.
As shown in Figure 1 below, the leadership practice is seen as a triangle in which each side exhibits one of the three aspects leaders, followers, and situation.
At the same time, distributed leadership literature review, their interactions are established over a specific period of time. Figure 1. Leadership Practice from a Distributed Distributed leadership literature review Spillane,p.
Spillane further adds that distributed leadership is not about whether leadership is distributed but about how it is distributed. As pointed out by Harrisdistributed leadership provides capacity building to sustain improvement efforts and manage changes because the practice of distributed leadership creates opportunities for people in both formal and informal leadership roles to work together in collaborative and supportive ways. When professionals work together on emerging issues, problems, or challenges that really matter to them, the potential for mutual learning can be quite dramatic Harris, Furthermore, distributed leadership brings about better decision making when more people with different backgrounds, experiences, skills, and expertise get involved in the process.
As advocated by Harristwo patterns, namely distributed leadership literature review contribution pattern and decisional distribution pattern, may lead to better decisions. The consultative contribution pattern involves significant participation from key staff in providing input and advice on school-wide decisions.
However, final decisions are still made by those in formal leadership positions. On the other hand, the decisional distribution pattern gives full responsibility and autonomy to those working on the ground, for example, teachers and teacher leaders, to make decisions within their appointed areas of distributed leadership literature review. It is worth noting that in a complex and demanding working environment like schools, school distributed leadership literature review alone cannot ensure success.
Spillane stresses that expecting one person to single-handedly lead complex organizations such as schools is impractical. Therefore, a variety of skills and expertise is required to stretch within and across schools.
Leadership must then be distributed so that other potential staff members can get involved with leadership responsibilities. When it comes to the application of distributed leadership literature review leadership, there are undoubtedly some potential barriers, distributed leadership literature review. According to Harrisdistributed leadership literature review, apart from the misuse and misinterpretation of distributed leadership, some critical barriers can be identified.
Those barriers include time, culture, professional unwillingness, and the getting it wrong Harris, In many schools, the matter of time appears to be on top of the discussion and raises some critical questions. Where do busy teachers and office staff find the time to lead innovation and change? Why should they devote time away from their core work?
On most days, teachers and office staff hardly have time for even a coffee break, let alone take on leadership responsibility, so how is distributed leadership feasible? With regard to organizational culture, Harrisp. Needless to say, professional reluctance appears to be a critical barrier when there is a general lack of passionate involvement and cooperation from stakeholders. Therefore, a great deal of effort is inevitably needed. They hold a fear of making errors or mistakes; thus, the pressure of getting it wrong seems intimidating.
However, as Harris argues, distributed leadership literature review, creativity is the cornerstone of distributed leadership, and mistakes are part of the learning process. In her own words:. The whole point of distributed leadership is creativity and not conformity: to try new things and to test them out, to make mistakes so that learning takes place.
It is pointless investing time and energy in revisiting safe and ultimately tired old ideas. Overall, even though there are barriers to implementing distributed leadership, making it happen could mean recognizing skills and expertise that can be better utilized in schools Harris As evidence suggests, distributed leadership can influence school development and change Harris et al, distributed leadership literature review. In addition to the barriers above, there are also some criticisms made of the distributed leadership concept.
Distributed leadership has been seen as a dressed-up delegation. While it usually provides a good image of leadership practice, its effectiveness has distributed leadership literature review been fully understood yet. Lumby is probably a well-known critic of this leadership concept.
Lumby asserts that distributed leadership is a convenient way of extracting additional work for a little extra reward, distributed leadership literature review. Another criticism has been made by Hartleywho highlights that the practice of distributed leadership is pretended to focus on the development of individuals, but instead, it typically concentrates on improving organizational effectiveness and efficiency.
However, the success of distributed leadership depends essentially on the quality of distribution, methods and purposes of distribution, and the quality and willingness of those who are given leadership responsibilities Dampson et al. Harris highlights two critical elements that are required for the success of leadership distributed leadership literature review. First, leadership needs to be distributed to those who have or can develop the knowledge or distributed leadership literature review required to carry out the leadership tasks expected of them.
Second, effective distributed leadership needs to be coordinated, preferably in some planned ways p. Moreover, to ensure success, school leaders should carefully consider the nature of work, organizational demands, and any potential barriers discussed above before applying the distributed leadership concept and examine the extent to which leadership responsibilities can be distributed Bennett et al.
If leadership responsibilities are to be distributed, it is vital that ongoing professional development or capacity building is provided to those who are less experienced or new to the tasks. In conclusion, distributed leadership has the power to enhance school performance and outcomes if it is appropriately distributed, taking the aforementioned recommendations into account.
The recognition and utilization of skills and expertise of potential individuals, even if they do not hold formal leadership positions, will enhance a sense of shared responsibility within schools.
Furthermore, the opportunity to grow and develop professionally will also imbue those potential individuals with motivation and self-efficacy, leading to more efficient performance. Bennett, N. Distributed leadership: A review of literature. National College for School Leadership.
Bolden, R. Distributed leadership. The University of Exeter. Distributed leadership in higher education: Rhetoric and reality. Distributed leadership in organizations: A review of theory and research. International Journal of Management Reviews13 3 Dampson, D. Distributed leadership an instrument for school improvement: The study of public senior high schools distributed leadership literature review Ghana. Journal of Education and e-Learning Research5 2 Gibb, distributed leadership literature review, C.
Lindzey Ed. Harris, A. Distributed leadership and organizational change: Reviewing the evidence. Journal of Distributed leadership literature review Change8 4 Distributed leadership through the looking glass. Management in Education22 1 Distributed leadership: Different perspectives.
Distributed leadership matters: Perspectives, practicalities, and potential. Corwin Press. Hartley, distributed leadership literature review, D. Leithwood, distributed leadership literature review, K. Distributed leadership according to the evidence. Lumby, J. Distributed leadership the uses and abuses of power. Oduro, G, distributed leadership literature review.
Distributed leadership \u0026 new narratives
, time: 4:14Distributed Leadership in School: A Brief Review of the Literature – Cambodian Education Forum
Indeed, we can do. Distributed Leadership Literature Review. that if your paper is short and if you’re choosing a long deadline for it. To check how much your paper will cost, you. Distributed Leadership Literature Review. can use an Distributed Leadership Literature Review online calculator on /10() through the distributed leadership literature reviewed there is a strong theme of fluid leadership, resting on expertise rather than position, exercised through changing ad hocEstimated Reading Time: 6 mins Oct 20, · It was intended to investigate the extent to which: • there was a common understanding of the term. • writing in the field covered both formal and informal leadership. • the literature provided practical advice to heads and other school leaders in developing distributed leadership within Estimated Reading Time: 1 min
No comments:
Post a Comment