Distributive Leadership style

  

Distributive Leadership style

My discussion will focus on Distributive style of leadership.This is because out of the many leadership styles, I like this best due to it inclusivity. Distributive leadership has  the advantage  of increasing initiative, creativity and therefore individuals have the power to influence events.Leadership as a whole is complex as it involves influencing members of the given organization towards achievement of certain objectives. Gronn 2002, looks at leadership as a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal in the organization. Schools as educational organizations adapt and apply different types of leadership approach that fits the existing context to achieve their own missions and goals. The quality of leadership determines the motivation of teachers and the quality of teaching in the classroom as indicated by  (Sergiovanni,2001).  Traditionally, school leadership has been that of the top-down approach where the leader leads, makes key decisions, motivates, and inspires.Styles of leadership which encourage leaders to share responsibilities and authority have been the subject of much recent interest. This alternative involves thinking of leadership in terms of activities and interactions that are distributed across multiple people and situations (Camburn et al., 2003.

Educators are frequently faced with the challenges of politics, hostility, selfishness, and violence.In order to overcome these obstacles, institutions require among other qualities, teamwork and motivation. Therefore, it is unwise to think that head of a school is the only one providing leadership for school improvement thus presenting a compelling argument for re-defining leadership away from role-based conceptions and towards distributive views (Spillane, 2006).  

 This birthed the idea of shared leadership or the new model termed as ‘distributed leadership ‘.This is an area which is  still new  and yet to be understood (Bennett et al., 2003).As such many scholars are looking at the term “distributed leadership” differently. However, despite these differences, there is an agreement on principal: one, leadership is a shared influence process with several individuals contributing and two, leadership arises from the interactions of different individuals to produce quality expertise. 

The concept of teachers working together to improve their teaching practices is a move away from the isolation and individualism in teaching  (Fullan ,1993). Collaboration is  one of the structural changes that supported the introduction of new theory of leadership. Depending on the particular leadership task, school leaders “knowledge and expertise might best be explored at the group or collective level rather than at the individual level (Spillane et al., 2001).In the school context this interdependence exists between the teacher, the students they teach, their subject department and the overall school culture and context.Collaborative leadership distribution is carried out by multiple leaders working together at one time and place. This occurs when the work of leaders is performed separately but is interdependent. 

 The distributed leadership movement, calls for leadership to be shared throughout the organization in a more democratic fashion; the fundamental premise of the concept of distributed leadership is that leadership activities should not be left in the hands of a sole individual but,they should be shared between a number of people in an organization or team.

However,Timperley (2005) concluded that distributing leadership is a risky business and may result in the distribution of incompetence. She recognizes that structural and cultural barriers operate within schools, which could make it very difficult for some teachers to show leadership. 

Finally, in the spirit of accountability,the Leader and may be less willing to relinquish power as it might leave them vulnerable due to lack of direct control. This may be particularly true in relation to financial, legal and human resource issues as well as the educational operation of the school (OECD, 2008).