Distributed Leadership Includes Staff: One Rural Custodian as a Case

2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 466-496
Author(s):  
Gerri Maxwell ◽  
Jim Scheurich ◽  
Linda Skrla
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Support Staff ◽  
Lead Author ◽  
Task Orientation ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Leadership Programs ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
Leadership Impact ◽  
Successful School

Distribution of leadership tasks, often described as distributed leadership, has emerged as an innovative concept for describing the deployment of leadership within schools. A distributed leadership perspective suggests that successful school leadership is not simply the charge of the formal leaders (e.g., Gronn, 2000; Ogawa & Bossert, 1995; Scribner, Sawyer, Watson, & Myers, 2007; Smylie, Conley, & Marks, 2002; Spillane, Halverson, & Diamond, 2004): rather, the entire staff of a school, throughout its multilayered network of relationships and interactions, is responsible for school leadership (Crow, Hausman, & Scribner, 2002; Scribner et al., 2007; Spillane et al., 2001). An examination of the leadership literature yielded task orientation (Fleishman, 1953), communication orientation (Gronn, 2000; Spillane, 2006), and trust orientation (Hays Group, 2004; MacBeath, 2005; Oduro, 2004; Smylie, Mayrowetz, Murphy, & Louis, 2007) as key characteristics of leadership. As such, the lead author used this trifold lens as a means of recognizing leadership among support staff—in particular, a rural school custodian. In addition, this qualitative study (Lincoln & Guba, 1985), which utilized snowball sampling (Gall, Borg, & Gall, 1996), resulted in hour-long interviews of 19 informants whose conversations revealed the leadership impact of one school custodian over his 50-plus-year stint as a custodian and significant school leader. Recommendations for leadership programs include incorporation of further studies of support staff within the current scope of what is considered distributed leadership.

scholarly journals Distributed Leadership in Secondary Schools: Possibilities and Impediments in Bangladesh

2012 ◽  
pp. 19-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abu Nayeem Mohammad Salahuddin
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Training Programme ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Effective School ◽  
Head Teachers ◽  
Team Members ◽  
The Arts ◽  
School Research ◽  
Successful School

Effective school leadership is a basic tenet for successful school since the outcome of a school depends on the quality of leadership. As a current popular form of leadership, distributed leadership focuses on the leadership of all team members in a school. Research shows that successful leadership depends on the context and time of a school. This paper tries to conceptualize distributed leadership in Bangladesh context during the time of their education restructuring. Though distributed leadership is seldom discussed and operated in developing countries, it advocates the implementation in those contexts due to the continuous success of it in the developed world. Hence, this conceptual paper discusses the possibilities and the potential problems in relation to implement this leadership form for the reforming education sector of Bangladesh. Prior to this, the theoretical background of distributed leadership has been considered in this article. To develop and deliver distributed leadership in Bangladesh, this paper suggests for initiating training programme for head teachers which should focus on long term positive change in education. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/afj.v4i0.12930 The Arts Faculty Journal Vol.4 July 2010-June 2011 pp.19-32

Making Waves in Riverside: A Superintendent/Principal Partnership for Dramatic School Turnaround

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 131-145
Author(s):  
Jackie Mania-Singer
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
School Turnaround ◽  
First Year ◽  
Leadership Programs ◽  
Effective School ◽  
Educational Leadership Programs ◽  
Reform Strategies ◽  
Effective School Leadership ◽  
Turnaround Strategies ◽  
Successful School

This case was written for use in educational leadership programs preparing superintendents, central office leaders, and school principals. This case requires students to draw from knowledge of successful school turnaround, effective school leadership, and system-wide reform strategies to consider how a first year superintendent and a newly hired principal implement turnaround strategies in a persistently low-performing school amid increasing pressure and scrutiny from the surrounding business and civic community. The case begins with the history and context of the community and school district and then explores the significant events and challenges during the first year of implementation.

scholarly journals Globally-Minded Leadership: A New Approach for Leading Schools in Diverse Democracies

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariel Tichnor-Wagner
Keyword(s):  
School Leadership ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Leadership Programs ◽  
Global Migration ◽  
Leadership Attributes ◽  
Educational Leadership Programs ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Leading Schools ◽  
Critical Competencies ◽  
Depth Interviews

Global migration, global markets, and technological advances have connected the world at an unprecedented scale and have diversified the communities with which people engage and the schools in which educators teach. This study explores the school leadership attributes that facilitate the learning of critical competencies needed to thrive in a diverse, interconnected world. Using agrounded theory approach to analyze in-depth interviews with eleven practicing school principals, ten globally minded leadership practices emerged from the data. These fell under the constructs of setting the direction, developing people, redesigning the organization, and situating glocally. Findings hold implications for how educational leadership programs and professional development providers can utilize this emerging framework to cultivate globally minded leaders.

scholarly journals Awareness and Practices of Distributed Leadership among Public Elementary School Teachers

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-68
Author(s):  
Jasmine P. Yulo ◽  
Dexter Paul D. Dioso
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Elementary School Teachers ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Public Elementary School ◽  
Demographic Profile ◽  
Leaders And Followers ◽  
K 12

The field of school leadership has been continuously increasing in demands and had currently occupied the idea of distributed leadership. Distributed leadership is leadership that is "stretched over leaders and followers, which is beneficial in settings such as schools (Bonneville, 2017). The call for teachers as leaders in school to help implement the K-12 educational system had engaged them to take on collaborative roles. Thus, the study intended to describe the level of awareness and extent of practices of distributed leadership in terms of types such as collaborative, collective, and coordinated as assessed by public elementary school teachers. Moreover, it determined whether a significant relationship existed between the level of awareness and demographic profile and the extent of practices and demographic profile of teachers. Also, it intended to determine if there is a significant relationship between the awareness and practices of distributed leadership.

scholarly journals Successful Leadership Practice in School

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 119-131
Author(s):  
Kamal Prasad Koirala
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Leadership Practices ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Leadership Practice ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
Successful Leadership ◽  
Positive Work Environment ◽  
Successful School ◽  
Positive Work

This paper mainly focuses on successful leadership practices in secondary school. It aims to identify the recent models and theories of successful leadership practice in schools, and explore the experience of school principal regarding successful school leadership in the Nepalese context. A qualitative study was carried out in Gorkha district for the collection of data. A successful head teacher was selected for in-depth interview to explore the perception and experience about successful practice of school leadership. The findings of the study reveal that strong interpersonal skills, people-centered leadership, clear communication of vision and goal, focus on academic achievement, co-curricular activities, transparency, creating a positive work environment, knowledge of pedagogical contents, and cooperation and collaboration with various stakeholders are the vital constituents of successful leadership practices.

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