Distributed leadership
Personal Reflection of Distributional Leadership towards the School Context
For the purpose of this essay I will be discussing distributed leadership and its implications in the educational setting. In my experience so far I have noticed aspects of this style becoming prominent in some areas of school life and university. I will use this experience of distributed leadership to reflect upon my own leadership skills in relation to my opinions and those embedded recent literature. It is noted, however, the term distributed leadership has many forms described in literature and definitions vary (Harris 2008). More interestingly, this assignment will attempt to analyse the affect influence and power has on distributing leadership and its implications. It will also examine research (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2000; Silins & Mulford, 2002; Harris and Muijs, 2004; Spillane & Camburn, 2006; Leithwood, et al. 2007), in order to analyse the benefits and implications of this style towards the school and its community. Moreover, it will attempt to criticise contemporary literature by evaluating the negative aspects of distributed leadership.
Firstly, it could be argued that various forms of distributed leadership inevitably exist within the school context (Gronn, 2000; Timperley, 2005; Spillane, 2006). Furthermore, the creation of competition between schools, along with the pressure in meeting performance targets, has increased the workload for headteachers. Therefore, headteachers are becoming increasingly dependent on their teachers as leaders in helping to implement government changes and spread this complex workload (Gronn, 2002; Timperley, 2009; Thorpe et al., 2011; Gunter, 2012). With this in mind, perhaps it is becoming difficult to attract and maintain quality teachers within the profession. Arguably, flatter structures in leadership aim to create democratic schools and emphasise community by engaging staff in collaborative learning and problem-solving (Murphy, 2005;
For the purpose of this essay I will be discussing distributed leadership and its implications in the educational setting. In my experience so far I have noticed aspects of this style becoming prominent in some areas of school life and university. I will use this experience of distributed leadership to reflect upon my own leadership skills in relation to my opinions and those embedded recent literature. It is noted, however, the term distributed leadership has many forms described in literature and definitions vary (Harris 2008). More interestingly, this assignment will attempt to analyse the affect influence and power has on distributing leadership and its implications. It will also examine research (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2000; Silins & Mulford, 2002; Harris and Muijs, 2004; Spillane & Camburn, 2006; Leithwood, et al. 2007), in order to analyse the benefits and implications of this style towards the school and its community. Moreover, it will attempt to criticise contemporary literature by evaluating the negative aspects of distributed leadership.
Firstly, it could be argued that various forms of distributed leadership inevitably exist within the school context (Gronn, 2000; Timperley, 2005; Spillane, 2006). Furthermore, the creation of competition between schools, along with the pressure in meeting performance targets, has increased the workload for headteachers. Therefore, headteachers are becoming increasingly dependent on their teachers as leaders in helping to implement government changes and spread this complex workload (Gronn, 2002; Timperley, 2009; Thorpe et al., 2011; Gunter, 2012). With this in mind, perhaps it is becoming difficult to attract and maintain quality teachers within the profession. Arguably, flatter structures in leadership aim to create democratic schools and emphasise community by engaging staff in collaborative learning and problem-solving (Murphy, 2005;
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