Distributed Leadership According To The Evidence

Although not new, the concept of distributed (shared) leadership has re-emerged in recent years as one highly promising response to the complex challenges currently faced by schools. Responding productively to these challenges far exceeds the capacities of any individual leader. If schools are to flourish in the future, they will need to enlist the collective expertise of many more of their members and stakeholders than they have in the past. The purpose of this volume is to both present and synthesize the best available evidence about the nature, causes, and effects of distributed school leadership. The book also clarifies common misunderstandings about distributed leadership and identifies promising implications for practice and for future research. Key features include... Expertise – Written by the most active and widely respected scholars engaged in research on distributed leadership, the book encompasses the very latest knowledge about the nature, causes and consequences of such leadership in schools. Comparative Models – The book compares various approaches to distributed leadership and examines the conditions under which some approaches may be better than others in improving schools. Evidence-Based – Much of the popularity of distributed leadership is rooted in expectations unsupported by systematic empirical evidence. Virtually all of the available evidence about distributed approach to leadership can be found in this book. This book is appropriate for researchers studying school leadership, instructors and students in graduate-level school leadership courses and practicing administrators at the district and building level.

Alma Harris The ?eld of school leadership is currently preoccupied with the idea of distributed leadership. Few ideas, it seems, have provoked as much attention, debate and c- troversy. Whatever your position on distributed leadership, and you cannot fail to have one, it is irrefutable that distributed leadership has become the leadership idea of the moment. Yet, it is an idea that can be traced back as far as the mid 20s and possibly earlier. So why the interest? Part of the answer can be found in a move away from theorizing and empirical enquiry focused on the single leader. This shift has undoubtedly been fuelled by structural changes, within schools and across school systems that have resulted in - ternative models or forms of leadership practice. Evidence highlights how those - cupying formal leadership positions are increasingly recognizing the limitations of existing structural arrangements to secure organizational growth and transformation (Fullan et al. , 2007; Harris et al. , 2008; Chapman et al. , 2008). As a consequence, many heads and principals are actively restructuring, realigning and redesigning leadership practice in their school (Harris, 2008). While the terminology to describe such changes varies, the core principle is one of extending or sharing leadership practice. While scholars have long argued for the need to move beyond those at the top of organizations in order to examine leadership (Barnard, 1968; Katz and Kahn, 1966) until relatively recently, much of the school leadership literature has tended tofocusupontheheadortheprincipal.

On few occasions in the history of modern management have leadership skills been in such sharp focus as they are now. The ability to direct often very large and diverse organizations; to make sense of the complex and turbulent markets and environments in which you operate; and to adapt and learn seems at an all time premium. The premise behind the fifth edition of this influential Handbook is that leadership, management and organizational development are all parts of the same process; enhancing the capacity of organizations, whatever their size, and the people within them to achieve their purpose. To this end, the editors have brought together a who's who of current writers on leadership and development and created the definitive single volume guide to the subject. The perspectives that the text provides to leadership, learning and development, embrace the formal and the informal, cultures and case examples from organizations of all kinds; and offers readers a rigorous, readable and, where appropriate, ground-breaking book. In the 14 years since the fourth edition of this classic book, very much has changed. But the need for this Handbook is as strong as ever and the Fifth Edition of Gower Handbook of Leadership and Management Development is set to become a definitive read for senior managers and those who develop them and an essential reader for the management students aspiring to become the next generation of leaders.

James Spillane, the leading expert in Distributed Leadership, shows how leadership happens in everyday practices in schools, through formal routines and informal interactions. He examines the distribution of leadership among administrators, specialists, and teachers in the school, and explains the ways in which leadership practice is stretched over leaders, followers, and aspects of the situation, including routines and tools of various sorts in the organization such as memos, scheduling procedures, and evaluation protocols. This book is a volume in the Jossey-Bass Leadership Library in Education—a series designed to meet the demand for new ideas and insights about leadership in schools.

The benefits of distributed leadership are yours with this research-based change process. Distributed leadership—engaging the many rather than the few in school improvement—has long been a promising theory. It’s time to make it a reality. This book shows why harnessing educators’ collective expertise leads to better student outcomes, and details the collaborative processes to make distributed leadership happen. Insights include: How to translate the research on distributed leadership into tangible results for your school Methods for building the social capital necessary for sustainable institutional change How to distribute leadership widely and wisely through professional collaboration

“This book claims to be ‘like no other’ and that is so true. The editors and authors each add quality guidance around distributed leadership to readers, providing evidence-based examples, useful websites and key reading material to support and supplement the ideas being presented.” Bridie Kent, Professor in Leadership in Nursing, University of Plymouth, UK “This book, thankfully, isn’t about self-defined heroic organizational leaders or power-hungry political leaders – it tells the stories of the people doing leadership every day in their work to make healthcare happen.” Scott Taylor, Business School Director of Admissions, University of Birmingham, UK This innovative book brings together experts from health sciences, nursing, business and management backgrounds to provide a broad analysis of the growing field of distributed leadership. The book offers health professionals practical guidance on applying distributed leadership, resulting in more effective forms of collaborative clinical teamwork and lasting improvements in care. The text: •Offers a comprehensive collection of perspectives, featuring chapters by expert clinical, nursing and management studies contributors •Synthesizes and explores recent developments in the leadership and distributed leadership research literature •Supports research and theory with examples of cases of effective distributed leadership in clinical practice, service quality, patient safety, leadership development, general nursing, midwifery education, oncology services, intellectual disability, evidence-based practice and organizational change and development •Provides an international focus, to encourage reflection on learning from experiences across Europe and beyond Distributed Leadership in Nursing and Healthcare is essential reading for health professionals, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and researchers working in the field of leadership. Edited by: Elizabeth A. Curtis, Assistant Professor, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland Martin Beirne, Emeritus Professor of Management and Organisational Behaviour at the University of Glasgow, UK John G. Cullen, Associate Professor, Maynooth University, Ireland Ruth Northway, Professor of Learning Disability Nursing, University of South Wales, UK Siobhán M. Corrigan, Assistant Professor, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

This book, which is part of the Institute of Educational Leadership (IEL), University of Malaya book publication series, is written to help students better understand their research in Transformational and Distributed Leadership. The first objective is to provide access and visibility on past Transformational and Distributed Leadership Dissertations and Thesis at IEL to the public and other Higher Education Institutions, local and international. The second objective is to provide quick facts and information to postgraduate students in their quest for past dissertations and thesis. Thus, this will save time spent searching for each dissertation and thesis separately. The structure of the book is based on the students’ interest and need. The original full text of these dissertations and thesis can be accessed through the QR code provided at the end of each chapter. Future postgraduate students interested in Transformational and Distributed Leadership will also find this book useful. The book highlights what sort of research was done before, what kind of research is expected on Transformational and Distributed Leadership and finally how can they write a research proposal with a clear goal in mind.

Distributed leadership has become an important term for educational policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in the United States and around the world, but there is much diversity in how the term is understood. Some use it as a synonym for democratic or participative leadership. This book examines what it means to take a distributed perspective based on extensive research and a rich theoretical perspective developed by experts in the field. Including numerous case studies of individual schools and providing empirically based accounts of school settings using a distributed perspective, this thorough volume: Explores how a distributed perspective is different from other frameworks for thinking about leadership. Provides clear examples of how taking a distributed perspective can help researchers understand and connect more directly to leadership practice. Illustrates how the day-to-day practice of leadership is an important line of inquiry for scholars and for those interested in improving school leadership.