Session Information
26 SES 02 B, Distributed Leadership
Papper session
Contribution
Abstract
Recent studies show that distributed leadership is one of the leading approaches to run an effective school [Day 2008; Hargreaves 2007; Harris 2014; Spillane 2005 etc.]. This kind of leadership is based on sharing values and responsibilities with teachers to achieve educational results.
However, school leadership studies in Russia come to the conclusion that principals prefer an authoritative approach [Farkhatdinov 2014]. Also, they concentrate on solving administrative and financial problems paying a very limited attention on creating a common school vision [Baiburin 2014].
Despite of this mainstream tendency, there are several models of leadership distribution. We suppose that some schools have another model where the key actors are not principals but rather members of the administrative team or experienced teachers, or where the leadership is distributed among several actors. We would like to compare different leadership distribution patterns and to study its impact on implementation of innovations in schools.
Practical problem
In Russia, principals are mainly occupied with solving administrative or financial problems. The planning horizonts are too short to build an effective teacher collaboration, to implement innovations and to create a positive future image.
We suppose that the same problem of time handicap is typical for principals worldwide. The idea of leadership distribution among ather school actors may contribute in solving this problem.
Theoretical problem
We know that distributed leadership has an impact on learning outcomes. However, there is a lack of knowledge on following aspects: how exactly school leadership may be distributed among school actors (principal, leading team, teachers), what are the possible patters of leadership distribution, and how these patters may influence internal processes such as innovation diffusion.
Theoretical framework
First, we analyze school management systems through the concept of distributed leadership [J. Spillane 2005; P. Gronn 2002: A. Harris 2003; A. Hargreaves, M. Fullan 2012 etc.]
Second, we are using network analysis approaches (concepts of centrality, network connectedness, simmelian ties etc.) to analyze the distribution of the leadership and qualities of different schools systems [S. Freeman 1979; D. Krackhardt 1999; Ph. Bonacich 1987 etc.]
Finally, we use innovation diffusion model by E. Rogers [E. Rogers 2003] and some more recent educational studies by M. Sun, W. Penuel, K. Frank [M. Sun et al. 2012] to explore the impact of the leadership distribution patterns on school innovations.
Research questions
Our main research question is how patterns of leadership distribution influence the innovative processes in schools.
Additional research questions are following:
• Who are the most influential actors in Russian school?
• How are the main models of their behavior?
• What are the patterns of leadership distribution?
We hope that answering these questions will make a small but significant contribution to educational research field.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Bonacich, P. (1987). Power and centrality: A family of measures. American Journal of Sociology, 92 Camburn, E., Rowan, B., & Taylor, J. E. (2003). Distributed Leadership in Schools: The Case of Elementary Schools Adopting Comprehensive School Reform Models. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 25(4), 347–373 Freeman, L. (1979). Centrality in social networks conceptual clarification. Social Networks, 1, 215–239. Gronn, P. (2002). Distributed leadership as a unit of analysis. The Leadership Quarterly, 13(4), 423–451. Hallinger, P. (2003). Leading Educational Change: reflections on the practice of instructional and transformational leadership. Cambridge Journal of Education, 33(3), 329–352. Hanneman, R. a, & Riddle, M. (2005). Introduction to Social Network Methods. Network, 46(7), 5128–30. Hargreaves A., Fullan M. (2012). Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School. Teachers College Press. Harris, A. (2003). Teacher Leadership as Distributed Leadership: Heresy, fantasy or possibility? School Leadership & Management, 23(3), 313–324. Harris, A., Muijs, D. (2005). Improving schools through teacher leadership (p. 161). McGraw-Hill International. Krackhardt, D. (1999). The Ties that Torture. Simmelian Tie Analysis in Organizations. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 16:183-210. Loeb S. et al. (2012). Effective Schools: Teacher Hiring, Assignment, Development, and Retention. Education Finance and Policy, 7(3), pp. 269–304. Miles, Matthew B and Huberman, A M. (1994) Qualitative data analysis : an expanded sourcebook. Sage Publications. Penuel, W. R., Frank, K.A., Sun, M., & Kim, C. (2011). Teachers’ social capital and the implementation of schoolwide reforms. Forthcoming. In Kelly, S. (Ed.) Understanding Teacher Effects. New York: Teachers’ College Press. Pham, M. C., Cao, Y., Petrushyna, Z., & Klamma, R. (2012). Learning Analytics in a Teachers ’ Social Network. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Networked Learning 2012 (pp. 414–421). Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations, 5th Edition (p. 576). Simon and Schuster. Spillane, J. (2005). Distributed leadership. The Educational Forum, 69. Sun, M., Penuel, W., Frank, K.A., & Gallagher, A. Forthcoming (2012). Shaping professional development to promote the diffusion of instructional expertise among teachers. Education, Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Байбурин Р. Ф., Бысик Н. В., Исаева Н. В., Каспржак А. Г. (2014). Директора школ как агенты реформы российской системы образования // Вопросы образования. 2014. № Специальный выпуск. С. 36-52. Фархатдинов Н. Г., Евстигнеева Н. В., Куракин Д. Ю., Малик В. М. (2014). Модели управления общеобразовательной организацией в условиях реформ: опыт социологического анализа // Вопросы образования. № 4. С. 24-35.
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