ERIC Number: EJ1166920
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0332 3315
EISSN: N/A
Distributed Leadership and Middle Leadership Practice in Schools: A Disconnect?
Lárusdóttir, Steinunn Helga; O'Connor, Eileen
Irish Educational Studies, v36 n4 p423-438 2017
This article reports on a small-scale collaborative research study on middle leadership (ML) in Iceland and Ireland. It explores the ML role using the theoretical lens of distributed leadership (DL). The majority of DL studies to date examine leadership as an organisational resource that can be cultivated and utilised to serve school improvement. This research, however, situates the teacher at the core of DL and commences a discourse on how MLs experience their leadership practice from a DL perspective. The empirical investigation is based on semi-structured focus group interviews across the range of schools in both education contexts. The findings indicate a disconnect between DL theory as outlined in the literature and ML practice as currently experienced in Ireland and Iceland. While a form of DL exists in both contexts, this is strictly at the gift of the Principal rather than a reciprocal relationship with teachers in relation to leading school activities. The findings also signal a need for a proactive approach in School Leadership Preparation Programmes and in Initial Teacher Education to facilitate school leaders and teachers in understanding and adopting a distributed mindset.
Descriptors: Middle Management, Participative Decision Making, Transformational Leadership, Leadership Styles, Semi Structured Interviews, Focus Groups, School Culture, Leadership Role, Trust (Psychology), Collegiality, Administrator Surveys, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Iceland; Ireland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A