Distributed Leadership in Educational Research

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

Brooks, J. S. & Kensler, L. A. W. (2011). Distributed leadership and democratic community. In F. W. English (Ed.), The SAGE handbook of educational leadership: Advances in theory, research, and practice (2nd Edition, pp. 55-66). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishing.

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 breath portion of this paper will explore the theories of systemic process and leadership for purposeful change in learning organizations. The breadth essay will present the theories of system design and elements of change for learning organizations of Bela H. Banathy, Michael Fullan, and Peter Senge. A presentation of their theories will include concepts and approaches to leadership and member empowerment for systemic change in the learning organization. This scholarly paper will attempt to find a common thread among the three that contributes to the fabric of leadership development, individual commitment to lifelong learning, and organizational commitment to the perspective of distributed leadership.

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.

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 paper reviews research discussing the school-wide, organizational mechanisms that make it possible for more students to take part in and reap the benefits of student voice initiatives. This review synthesizes existing research and identifies five organizational mechanism to foster student leadership: research, consistency, governance structure, recognition, and group makeup. These mechanisms will allow researchers to more closely examine the effectiveness of organizational structure and culture as well as practical strategies to build capacity for wider student leadership.

Editors: Marc Brasof, Arcadia University & Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Commonwealth University The Journal for Ethical Educational Leadership invites researchers, practitioners, and graduate students to submit manuscripts that examine the intersection of student voice and school leadership. When students are genuinely included into school change processes, more socially just, democratic schools emerge and teachers, students, administrators, and schools improve across a wide range of important indicators. However, student leadership activity is often undermined by sociocultural conditions and structural arrangements found in schools. Many adults do not consider students as a source of valuable insight about school reform, nor are they perceived as mature enough to be real partners in change initiatives. Adults' negation of students' capabilities for leadership leads to exclusionary structures and decision-making processes, positioning students on the fringe of school change rather than as central partners. Whether unintentional or not, the lack of student voice is detrimental to effective school leadership. Conversely, inviting students to participate in the governance of their schools enables school leaders to learn necessary perspectives about school challenges and ultimately design and build community around effective change strategies. For this special issue of JEEL, Student Voice and School Leadership, researchers and practitioners use theory, research, and praxis to examine how the field of educational leadership benefits from the inclusion of youth-adult leadership practices. Educators from a wide-range of fields are encouraged to submit manuscripts discussing the intersection of student voice and school leadership with any of the following concepts:

Along with the immigration throughout the US, rural schools have experienced changes in demographics and need to adapt to meet the needs of diverse students. Addressing this issue, this chapter argues that rural schools in the US might benefit from Distributed Leadership (DLS) to meet the needs of school personnel and better understand emergent bilingual (EB) students. We highlight that DLS is likely to promote student-centered pedagogy (SCP) when the values of democratic education are adhered to. We first map out the recent research on rural schools with EB students and address the common challenges through big ideas from DLS. Then, we argue why DLS is functional in grappling with these challenges and discuss how rural schools can implement DLS efficiently. Lastly, we present pedagogical implications for professional development with a focus on deliberative democracy and share recommendations for future research.

This article presents findings from a qualitative study of K-12 teacher fellows involved in a multi-year, grant-funded teacher leadership professional development program. The research examines how fellows engaged in complex negotiations with multiple stakeholders as they attempted to implement a teacher leadership plan in the second year of program participation. The following main themes emerged in the data: how distributed leadership was enacted in dramatically different ways depending on the constraints and affordances offered by the stakeholders; how the beliefs about teacher leadership supported or disrupted the work of teacher leaders; and how university mentors were able to help disrupt the hierarchies that sometimes impinged on teacher leadership. We explore the implications for professional development programs in districts, and in particular, those that address the need to cultivate teacher leadership.

Distributed leadership stretches and shares the leadership practice to form collection leadership so that those not in formal authoritative position such as classroom teachers could be valued and have a voice in leadership. It disassociates from the vertical, bureaucratic and organizational hierarchy to enable collaboration and wide spread sharing of information and power to sustain improvement in teaching and learning.

This study investigated the mediating role of initiative climate on the relationship between distributed leadership and organizational resilience in schools. The study employed a cross-sectional design following quantitative methods. The sample consisted of 310 teachers recruited from different cities located in seven geographical regions of Turkey in 2020-2021 academic year using convenience sampling. Data were collected online (Google Forms) using the Distributed Leadership Inventory, Personal Initiative Scale, and Organizational Resilience Scale, all of which had acceptable validity and reliability. Participants “agreed” with initiative climate and organizational resilience in schools and school principals’ distributed leadership behaviors. There were positive correlations between the variables. The results showed that distributed leadership (leadership coherence and leadership functions) fosters initiative climate and organizational resilience in schools. Initiative climate also...

School leadership is an interesting, yet sensitive, field, which is crucial for school improvement (Cruz-González et al., 2021) and a key to sustaining change and improving educational outcomes (Aas et al., 2020). However, the study of leadership practices in school context can be challenging. As each school features complex networks of relations, influenced by various factors (social, educational, cultural, financial, etc.), research on leadership issues requires alternative and innovative research methods, capturing simultaneous, collective, and dialogic leadership practices in schools, to examine leadership dynamics "from within" (Raelin, 2020). Technocratic research focusing on the traits or behaviors of individuals (the leaders), cannot provide answers to complex, yet crucial, leadership issues (Crow et al., 2017), like: in which practice leadership is exercised, how leadership emerges and develops through day-today experience and how to change the trajectory of the l...

School leadership is an interesting, yet sensitive, field, which is crucial for school improvement (Cruz-González et al., 2021) and a key to sustaining change and improving educational outcomes (Aas et al., 2020). However, the study of leadership practices in school context can be challenging. As each school features complex networks of relations, influenced by various factors (social, educational, cultural, financial, etc.), research on leadership issues requires alternative and innovative research methods, capturing simultaneous, collective, and dialogic leadership practices in schools, to examine leadership dynamics "from within" (Raelin, 2020). Technocratic research focusing on the traits or behaviors of individuals (the leaders), cannot provide answers to complex, yet crucial, leadership issues (Crow et al., 2017), like: in which practice leadership is exercised, how leadership emerges and develops through day-today experience and how to change the trajectory of the l...

Background-Platelet hyperactivity induced by inflammation is a known risk factor for atherosclerosis and thrombosis, but its underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Methods and Results-The signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3) was activated in collagen-stimulated platelets. Activated STAT3 served as a protein scaffold to facilitate the catalytic interaction between the kinase Syk and the substrate PLCγ2 to enhance collagen-induced calcium mobilization and platelet activation. The same interaction of STAT3 with Syk and PLCγ2 was also detected in HEK293 cells transfected with cDNAs for Syk and PLCγ2, and stimulated with interleukin-6 (IL-6). Pharmacological inhibition of STAT3 blocked

The academic literature on the practice of inclusive education presents diverse and at times contradictory perspectives in how it is connected to practices of distributed leadership. Depending on the approach, on the one hand, inclusive educational practice may enable distributed school leadership, while on the other hand, it may allow for hierarchical management styles if staff members do not implement inclusive practices. This paper explores how school staff members perceive and understand the relationship between practices of inclusive education and distributed leadership in two public primary schools: one in New South Wales (Australia) and one in Slovakia. These two schools were identified by external informants as good practice examples of inclusive education. Using qualitative research methods based on interviews, this paper identifies two main understandings of this relationship. First, although distributed leadership may encourage the goals of inclusive education, it may in some circumstances also hinder their achievement. Second, distributed leadership can be constructed as an indispensable component of inclusive education, and this has implications for how the target groups of inclusive education are conceptualised. This paper also discusses the wider social and political contexts of the two primary schools and how in each case context significantly constrained and shaped understandings and practices of inclusion and distributed leadership in the practice of teachers and principals.

An organization that promotes civics education used a student government model to teach students concepts of democracy and also showed the adults that students could be useful partners in school governance. by marc brasof and Anne spector The Rendell Center for Civics and Civic Engagement is engaged in a bold experiment to create democracies in elementary schools to increase youth's civic literacy and civic engagement. Our goal is to cultivate the next generation of active citizens. Our approach is to do so by helping K-8 schools build civic curriculum and youth-adult governance structures so students learn and practice the knowledge and skills of effective citizenship. What follows is the story of and lessons from the center's yearlong involvement to build a youth-adult school governance system and schoolwide civic literacy curriculum at the K-8 Edwin Stanton School in Philadelphia, Pa. The premise of the Rendell Center's approach is that civic learning needs to be schoolwide and experimental: Students learn civic knowledge and skills in classroom settings and apply their learning in a youth-adult, decision-making structure. This approach calls for challenging educators' assumptions about young

Within the changing tertiary environment, research activity and performance are coming under greater pressure and scrutiny. External policy and funding directives are resulting in revised institutional objectives, requiring variations to organisational structures and processes. These changes have an impact on the relationship between the institution and the individual. Institutional executives provide benchmarks for revised activity and performance, while academic staff respond to new internal directives and accountability requirements by reprioritising their responsibilities. At the same time, there will inevitably be an informal evaluation of the resourcing and support provided for staff as they experience the institutional push to attain greater research outputs. Within this dynamic environment there is the potential for tensions and negative outcomes if interactions are not carefully directed. The implications for leadership are obvious. What is less evident is whether the strategic intent of the institution resonates through the institution in alignment with the development of a supportive research culture.

This article presents findings from a multi-year, qualitative study of K-12 science teacher fellows involved in a grant-funded professional development program. This research hones in on Year 2 where we examine the actions our fellows have taken in their districts as science teacher leaders and their sense of agency. The following main themes emerged in the data: how science teacher leaders see personal/ organizational change as a process; the importance of differentiated mentoring and support; the fellows’ acceptance of roadblocks as part of the growth process; and finally, the value of reflection as a means to sustain leadership efforts beyond the fellowship. We explore the implications for professional development programs in districts, and in particular, those that address the need to cultivate teacher leadership. Emily J. Klein is an associate professor, Monica Taylor is a professor, and Kristen Trabona is a doctoral student in the College of Education and Human Services, and M...

This study investigated the mediating role of initiative climate on the relationship between distributed leadership and organizational resilience in schools. The study employed a cross-sectional design following quantitative methods. The sample consisted of 310 teachers recruited from different cities located in seven geographical regions of Turkey in 2020-2021 academic year using convenience sampling. Data were collected online (Google Forms) using the Distributed Leadership Inventory, Personal Initiative Scale, and Organizational Resilience Scale, all of which had acceptable validity and reliability. Participants “agreed” with initiative climate and organizational resilience in schools and school principals’ distributed leadership behaviors. There were positive correlations between the variables. The results showed that distributed leadership (leadership coherence and leadership functions) fosters initiative climate and organizational resilience in schools. Initiative climate also...

This article presents findings from a qualitative study of K-12 teacher fellows involved in a multi-year, grant-funded teacher leadership professional development program. The research examines how fellows engaged in complex negotiations with multiple stakeholders as they attempted to implement a teacher leadership plan in the second year of program participation. The following main themes emerged in the data: how distributed leadership was enacted in dramatically different ways depending on the constraints and affordances offered by the stakeholders; how the beliefs about teacher leadership supported or disrupted the work of teacher leaders; and how university mentors were able to help disrupt the hierarchies that sometimes impinged on teacher leadership. We explore the implications for professional development programs in districts, and in particular, those that address the need to cultivate teacher leadership.

This article presents findings from a multi-year, qualitative study of K-12 science teacher fellows involved in a grant-funded professional development program. This research hones in on Year 2 where we examine the actions our fellows have taken in their districts as science teacher leaders and their sense of agency. The following main themes emerged in the data: how science teacher leaders see personal/ organizational change as a process; the importance of differentiated mentoring and support; the fellows’ acceptance of roadblocks as part of the growth process; and finally, the value of reflection as a means to sustain leadership efforts beyond the fellowship. We explore the implications for professional development programs in districts, and in particular, those that address the need to cultivate teacher leadership. Emily J. Klein is an associate professor, Monica Taylor is a professor, and Kristen Trabona is a doctoral student in the College of Education and Human Services, and M...

The current era might, in theory, be described as the best time ever for educational media and technology. I argue that the field is growing into a fifth, more advanced 'age' of e-leadership (Jameson, 2013) after a long period of gestation and development encompassing four prior 'ages' identified by Winn (2002): (1) an instructional design content focus; (2) an 'age' of differentiated design based on media format; (3) a scaffolding of student learning, constructivist phase; and (4) a distributed cognition, social learning in communities 'age', all to an extent still with us, but moving inexorably now into a new era. With around ten billion web connected devices globally, when 91% of all people on earth now have a mobile phone (Super Monitoring, 2013), when the rapid proliferation of educational media and technology across all education sectors now includes a plethora of electronic tools, software apps, ICT platforms, social media networks, game-based learning systems, virtual environments, 3D printing systems, as well as Big Data, BYOD, open access, flipped classroom and MOOC initiatives, supported by countless educational policies, expert practitioners, online institutions, pedagogical and neurological research findings, in some ways EdMedia/  EdTech innovators have never had it so good. The 2014 Edelman Trust Barometer indicates, again, that technology is the most trusted global industry sector (79%), while trust in academics (67%) remains higher than CEOs (43%; Edelman, 2014). Industry investment, public trust and government policy endorsements in many countries are tending to favour educational media technologists. And yet, as many EdMedia/ EdTech practitioners would say, the picture does not feel quite so rosy for practitioners. Why is this? As global concerns have grown about surveillance, privacy, ethics, reputational risk, security, plagiarism and intellectual property rights regarding web-based media, some local institutions have impeded educational media and technology developments through fear and ignorance. Policy endorsements may be overly instrumental in linking investment to measurement of unrealistic institutional targets. Many teachers are still cyberphobiac laggards regarding EdTech implementation. Informal student social media technologies usage has often raced ahead of institutional competence, with top managers uneasily relegating technology to lone 'Fred/Martha in the Shed' innovators. Global competition, league table stratification, marketisation, excessive bureaucratisation and privatisation are stimuli driving a new public management audit culture in which performance to key indicators has superseded a focus on collegiality and on student learning for its own sake. Increasingly, in a 'supercomplex' (Barnet, 2000) educational ecosystem, in which continuous uncertainties of funding, student numbers, youth unemployment/fee debts and managerialist restructurings threaten to destabilise an already over-stretched system, I argue that there is a vital need for deliberate identification of effective strategic and operational distributed, transformational e-leadership at senior, middle and lower levels. New forms of collegial e-leadership are required to enable high trust entrepreneurial environments to emerge interactively. The development of technological innovation in advanced ICT systems needs to be guided by authentic e-leaders with a values-based, barefoot human focus on nurturing high trust, living educational ecosystems through good communication and sustainable, realistic policies. I will talk through these issues and recommend a distributed e-leadership framework for educational institutions to consider.