Distributed Leadership: A
Case of Theory Following
Practice?
CCEAM Conference
Cyprus
Professor Alma Harris
Leadership and Organisational
Development
What type of
leadership
generates,
supports and
sustains
organisational
improvement and
change?
We Know
School leadership has
significant effects on
student learning second
only to the effects of
the quality of
curriculum and
teachers’ instruction
(Leithwood, et al 2004)
But what type of
leadership?
• Ethical
• Emotional
• Spiritual
• Change
• Inclusive
• Distributed
But
• The empirical base to accompany,
these labels, if it does exist, is less
than robust or convincing.
Distributed Leadership:
Conceptual Confusion
• Participative
• Shared
• Collaborative
• Democratic
• Diffuse
3 Frames: Different messages
Theoretical
Empirical
Distributed
Leadership
Normative
Two Aims
• To look at these frames
separately and to explore what
they each tell us about
distributed leadership.
• To identify what forms of
research are needed to extend
the knowledge base about
distributed leadership practice.
The Theoretical Frame
Distributed Cognition
Activity Theory
Resnick,1991.
• Cognition is not a matter of
mental capacity because sense
making and connections are
established through the situation
or the context in which it takes
place (3)
Cognition in the Wild
Hutchins, 1995:6.
• Cognitive unit of analysis from the
individual person to the team.
• The team as a computational and
cognitive system.
Cognition in the Wild
Hutchins, 1995:6.
• It is possible for a team to
organize its behavior in an
appropriate sequence without
there being a global script or plan
anywhere in the system.
Distributed Leadership implies
(Spillane, 2002: 20).
• social distribution of multiple
leaders
• inter-dependency rather than
dependency
Distributed Leadership Theory
(Spillane et al, 2004;28)
• It offers a new meta
lens for thinking
about leadership
practice- by
mobilizing a
language and a set
of analytical tools
for reflecting on that
activity.
Distributed Leadership Theory
(Spillane et al, 2004;28)
• We propose the distributed
leadership framework as a
sensing device for registering
the complex practice of school
leadership.
• It is a frame informed by
practice
Ambiguity
Spillane et al 2004: 29
• a way of thinking about leadership
practice and that it has that it has
no prescriptive power.
• it can be used as a diagnostic
instrument that helps practitioners
approach their work in new ways.
Tensions
• Theory borrowing - imposition of a theory
from one discipline to another
• How far distributed cognition translates into a
theory of distributed leadership.
• Distributed cognition is a descriptive rather
than a prescriptive theory.
• Education is a discipline that presses for
diagnosis, application and prescription.
The Empirical Frame
Direct Evidence- relatively limited
Most of it centred on ‘leadership
plus’ aspect
Disconnected from theory- not
linked to theory building
studies
Evidence from other fields of
investigation tend to suggest
positive outcomes
Spillane et al 2001
• Our preliminary analysis
suggests that the work of
leading and managing the
schoolhouse is indeed
distributed, not only involving
multiple designated leaders
and informal leaders but also
demonstrated by the
prevalence of the coperformance of work
Other evidence
• Teacher Leadership
• School Improvement
• Organisational Development
• Business
Key Findings
• Teacher leadership impacts directly
upon the quality of instruction
• Collaborative cultures that share
leadership activities are likely to
improve
• Both lateral and vertical forms of
leadership are required to maximise
organisational growth
Level 5 Leadership
(Collins 2001; 38)
• Leaders who developed other
leaders, distributed leadership
and shared power.
Lashway (2004)
• The research base for distributed
leadership is still embryonic. While
there is considerable theory, we
have relatively little empirical
knowledge.
We don’t know
• Whether certain patterns of
distribution are more effective in
schools than others?
• Whether and how distributed
leadership impacts upon
organisational change and
development?
Two Studies
• Distributing Leadership to
Make Schools Smarter
(Leithwood et al, 2006)
• Distributed Leadership and
School Improvement:
Exploring the Relationship
(Harris and Muijs, 2006)
Leithwood et al
(2006)
• School leadership has a greater
influence on schools and pupils
when it is widely distributed
• Some patterns of distribution are
more effective than others
Effects of Different patterns of
Leadership Distribution
)
(Leithwood et al 2006
• Schools in the highest quintile of
student achievement attributed
relatively high levels of influence
to all sources of leadership (i.e.
school teams, parents and
students).
Harris and Muijs (2004;2006)
• Extended
• Enhanced
• Emerging
• Restricted
Principles of Distributed Leadership
(Harris and Muijs 2004:6)
Continual Emergence: distributed leadership is characterized by
the constant appearance and/or emergence of leaders, which are not
necessarily in a single location, but instead, are dispersed in time and
geographical space.
Participation based on contingent status: Participation by team
members hinges on organizational need. Teams and communities of
practice are open and inclusive, rather than rigid.
Formally neutral: The individuals are task-oriented but have no
formal status.
Instrumental autonomy: Team members are able to act with
autonomy when their actions are perceived to help bring the
organization to the realization of its goals.
Capacity Building Individuals may assume leadership for the time
that their specific skills, talents, or other attributes are needed, and
then may relinquish leadership when that moment of need is over.
Characteristics of an Organization
with Distributed Leadership
(Harris and Muijs 2004:6)
• Individuals perceive themselves as stakeholders:
All individual team members are willing and able to assume
leadership positions, when needed.
The organizational goals are disaggregated:
The tasks needed to achieve the mission can be broken down
into component parts and distributed to the teams best able
to achieve the tasks.
Distributed roles and tasks:
They take place in different time zones, places, and under
widely divergent conditions.
Characteristics of an Organization
with Distributed Leadership
(Harris and Muijs 2004:6)
• Leaders have expert rather than formal authority
Leadership shifts according to need; the leader role generally resides
with the person who has expert authority for the designated task.
Vision is a unifying force
A clearly articulated vision which is equally shared among all members
exerts incredible cohesive force. It is what allows progress to be made
without diverging or going off course.
Collaborative teams formed for specific purposes
The teams have fluid membership, which changes according to the
task, the roles, and the requisite talent.
Communities of practice emerge
Although collaborative activities tend to disband, the communities of
practice maintain their affiliation long after the task, and often connect
with each other in order to brainstorm about future needs and
potential collaborative configurations.
Normative Frame
• Changing structure of schooling
• Increased workload on formal
leaders
• Complexity of the leadership task
Paradox 1
(Harris and Muijs, 2004)
• Without stable, consistent
leadership in schools distributed
leadership will be incredibly
fragile.
Paradox 2
(Leithwood et al, 2006)
• Distributing leadership to others
does not seem to result in less
demand for leadership from those
in formal leadership positions
Challenges
• No generalisable practices
• No distinction between good or
bad practices
• Theory has no predictive power
Closing the gap
Theory Development
• We urgently need empirical
studies of distributed leadership
practice to test, refine and develop
the theory.
Methodological Issues
• Which actors constitute leadership
when it is distributed?
• What aspects of leadership constitute
distributed leadership?
• What form should the collection of
evidence take?
• How do we trace the relationship
between distributed leadership and
organisational/student outcomes?
The Long Haul: Two
Vital Tests
• Has ‘Distributed
Leadership Theory’
moved on?
• Can we predict the
impact of different forms
of distribution on
organisational outcomes?
Optimism
[email protected]
• Harris, A. (2005) Leading or
Misleading: Distributed Leadership
and School Improvement Journal of
Curriculum Studies Volume 37 No 3
p255-267 ISSN 0022-0272
• Harris, A. (2006) Opening up the
Black Box of Leadership Practice:
Taking a Distributed Perspective
International Journal of
Educational Administration