Session Information
26 SES 13 B, Distributed Leadership
Paper Session
Contribution
The National Association of Secondary School Principals describes the skill set and dimensions necessary to develop the 21st Century Principal as an educational leader who can set instructional direction, encourage team work, develop others, resolve complex problems by making high quality decisions and having clear communication for different audiences (NASSP, 2013). Today’s charge for student learning and achievement for urban schools in countries like the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States no longer rests on the shoulders of one principal but on the practice of developing and dispersing leadership across the school to meet the achievement expectations of all students. Principals and educators are primarily concerned with the educational success of every student, irrespective of background or context (Harris, 2008). The objective of this study was to utilize a three-pronged Trans-Distributed-Mindset framework to examine the leadership practices of urban secondary school principals. This framework utilizes distributed leadership theory, transformative learning theory and entity theory and incremental theory of ability (mindset) as lenses of practice in urban schools. The researchers of this study utilize the Trans-Distributed-Mindset framework to conceptualize the tenants of distributed leadership which as a leadership framework, have importance and impact on various school-level dimensions and has received much attention (Elmore, 2000, Lambert, 2003). Leadership at all levels is now more than ever being recognized as a viable approach in meeting the critical need of improving student achievement. In distributed leadership theory, “the term leadership is reserved either for activities that administrators, teachers, or students understand as influencing them, all in the service of the organization’s core work” (Spillane, 2006, p.12). Spillane’s (2006) framework provides a two pronged approach to the distributive leadership perspective involving two main aspects: the leader-plus aspect and the practice aspect. Although the cornerstone of distributive leadership perspective is the leader-plus aspect, it is ineffective or insufficient if practiced without the practice aspect. Spillane (2006) argues for the importance of shifting the focus from the actions of individual leaders to the interactions among leaders, followers and their situation.
The second prong approach to the framework for this study is transformative learning theory(TLT) which Mezirow (1991) defines TLT as being focused on learner centered active engagement which has a significant impact or paradigm shift on the adult learner which in turn allows for the focused relationship between personal change and learning in adults (Clark, 1993). This provides urban school principals an reflective space of engagement to challenge assumptions and systemic structures which impede success and improvement in their schools. The third pronged approach of the Trans-Distributed-Mindset framework uses entity (fixed) and incremental theory of ability (growth) self theories to frame the challenges and difficult tasks principals face leading schools. Carol Dweck (2006) describes the hallmark of successful individuals as those who love learning, value effort and persist in the face of obstacles. The urban secondary principals’ assumptions and beliefs surrounding intelligence and ability of students, instructional coaches and teachers are confronted.
Specifically this qualitative study of urban secondary school principals introduced the Trans-Distributed-Mindset framework over four years of partnerships with urban secondary principals and sought to answer the following two research questions: In what ways do urban secondary school leaders disburse leadership across their schools with principals, instructional coaches, and teachers to improve student achievement, and the second research question focused on the ways in which urban school leaders internalize the trans-distributive-mindset framework in distributive leadership practice?
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Clark, M. C. (1993). Transformational learning, New Directions For Adult and Continuing Education, (57), 47-56. Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House. Elmore, R. F. (2000). Building a new structure for school leadership. The Albert Shanker Institute. Retrieved http://www.educ.msu.edu/epfp/meet/5_05_08files/Elmore_New- Structures_2000.pdf Lambert, L. (2003). Leadership redefined: an evocative context for teacher leadership. School Leadership & Management, 23 (4) 421-430. Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. National Association of Secondary School Principals. (2013). Selecting and developing the 21st century principal. Retrieved from: https://www.nassp.org/tabid/3788/default.aspx?topic=26775 Spillane, J. P. (2006). Distributed leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
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