![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
Despite frequently expressed reservations concerning its fundamental theoretical weakness, distributed leadership (DL) has grown to become the preferred leadership concept and has acquired taken-for-granted status. This article suggests that the dominance of DL can best be understood as a fashion or fad rather than as a rational choice. It explores the techniques used to privilege DL, where not only logical but also emotional and moral arguments have been brought to bear. It is suggested that ongoing hybridization of distributed leadership theory serves to deflect criticism, rather as a virus continues to evade attack by changing its form. The article also argues that focusing on DL is a displacement activity, drawing people’s attention away from the core purpose of leadership, which is to address the persistent inequality of chances that children experience in school.
References
Section:
|
Abrahamson, E (1991) Managerial fads and fashions: The diffusion and rejection of innovations. Academy of Management Review 16(3):586–612. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Ball, SJ (2013) The Education Debate. Bristol: Policy Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Bolden, R, Petrov, G, Gosling, J (2009) Distributed leadership in higher education: Rhetoric and reality. Educational Management Administration & Leadership 37(2):257–277. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Bowen, C, Bateson, D (2008) Everyone a leader: Identifying the core principles and practices that enable everyone to be a leader and play their part in distributed leadership. Nottingham: NCSL. Available at: http://www.nationalcollege.org.uk/docinfo?id=21820&filename=everyone-a-leader.pdf (accessed 29 July 2012). Google Scholar | |
|
Bourdieu, P (1974) The school as a conservative force. In: Eggleston, T (ed.) Contemporary Research in the Sociology of Education. London: Methuen. Google Scholar | |
|
Bush, T, Glover, D, Sood, K (2006) Black and minority ethnic leaders in England: A portrait. School Leadership & Management 26(3):289–305. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Children’s Society (2015) The Good Childhood Report 2015. Available at: http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/TheGoodChildhoodReport2015.pdf (accessed 15 November 2015). Google Scholar | |
|
Clark, T (2004) The fashion of management fashion: A surge too far? Organization 11(2):297–306. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Collins, J (2009) Social reproduction in classrooms and schools. Annual Review of Anthropology 38:33–48. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Day, C, Sammons, P, Hopkins, D. (2010) Ten Strong Claims about Leadership. Nottingham: NCSL. Available at: http://www.nationalcollege.org.uk/docinfo?id=76026&filename=10-strong-claims-about-successful-school-leadership.pdf (accessed 29 July 2012). Google Scholar | |
|
Edwards, G (2011) Concepts of community: A framework for contextualizing distributed leadership. International Journal of Management Reviews 13(3):301–312. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
European Union (2015) Declaration on promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/education/news/2015/documents/citizenship-education-declaration_en.pdf (accessed 3 August 2016). Google Scholar | |
|
Fiol, CM, O’Connor, EJ (2003) Waking up! Mindfulness in the face of bandwagons. Academy of Management Review 28(1):54–70. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Furlong, J, Oancea, A (2005) Assessing quality in applied and practice-based educational research: A framework for discussion. Review of Australian Research in Education: Counterpoints on the Quality and Impact of Educational Research. Special issue, Australian Educational Researcher 6:89–104. Google Scholar | |
|
Green, SE (2004) A rhetorical theory of diffusion. Academy of Management Review 29(4):653–669. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Gronn, P (2000) Distributed properties: A new architecture for leadership. Educational Management Administration & Leadership 28(3):317–338. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Gunter, H, Hall, D, Bragg, J (2013) Distributed leadership: A study in knowledge production. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, doi: 1741143213488586. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Hairon, S, Goh, JWP (2015) Pursuing the elusive construct of distributed leadership: Is the search over? Educational Management Administration & Leadership 43(5):693–718. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Hall, DJ (2013) The strange case of the emergence of distributed leadership in schools in England. Educational Review 65(4):467–487. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Harris, A (2012) Distributed leadership: According to the evidence. Journal of Educational Administration 46(2):172–188. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Harris, A (2013a) Distributed leadership: Friend or foe? Educational Management Administration & Leadership 41(5):545–554. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Harris, A (2013b) Distributed School Leadership: Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders. Oxford: Routledge. Google Scholar | |
|
Hatcher, R (2005) The distribution of leadership and power in schools. British Journal of Sociology of Education 26(2):253–267. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Heck, R, Hallinger, H (2010) Testing a longitudinal model of distributed leadership effects on school improvement. Leadership Quarterly 21:867–885. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Kearney, CA, Graczyk, P (2014) A response to intervention model to promote school attendance and decrease school absenteeism. Child & Youth Care Forum 43(1):1–25. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Lakomski, G (1999) Against leadership: A concept without a cause. In: Begley, PT, Leonard, PE (eds) The Values of Educational Administration: A Book of Readings, 37–51. Available at: http://www.goodeconsulting.com.au/Publication%20Copies/the-values-of-educational-administration.pdf (accessed 3 August 2016). Google Scholar | |
|
Lakomski, G (2008) Functionally adequate but causally idle: W(h)ither distributed leadership? Journal of Educational Administration 46(2):159–171. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Lee, M, Hallinger, P, Walker, A (2012) A distributed perspective on instructional leadership in International Baccalaureate (IB) Schools. Educational Administration Quarterly 48(4):664–698. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Leibenstein, H (1950) Bandwagon, snob, and Veblen effects in the theory of consumers’ demand. Quarterly Journal of Economics 64(May):183–207. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Lumby, J, Coleman, M (forthcoming 2016) Leading for Equality: Making Schools Fairer. London: SAGE. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Marx, C, Engels, F (2008) On Religion. New York: Dover. Google Scholar | |
|
Murphy, J, Smylie, M, Mayrowetz, D, Seashore Louis, K (2009) The role of the principal in fostering the development of distributed leadership. School Leadership & Management: Formerly School Organisation 29(2):181–214. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Parker, G (2015) Distributed leadership in English schools in 2014. Management in Education 29(3):132–138. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Pont, B, Nusche, D, Moorman, H (2008) Developing skills for effective school leadership. In: Improving School Leadership, Vol. 1: Improving Policy and Practice. Paris: OECD. Google Scholar | |
|
Rost, K, Osterloh, M (2009) Management fashion pay-for-performance for CEOs. Schmalenbach Business Review 61:119–149. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Schaefer, L (2013) Beginning teacher attrition: A question of identity making and identity shifting. Teachers and Teaching 19(3):260–274. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Shah, S, Shaikh, J (2010) Leadership progression of Muslim male teachers: Interplay of ethnicity, faith and visibility. Special issue, School Leadership & Management 30(1):19–33. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Simkins, T (2000) Education reform and managerialism: Comparing the experience of schools and colleges. Journal of Education Policy 15(3):317–332. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Sobehart, H (ed.) (2009) Women Leading Education across the Continents: Sharing the Spirit, Fanning the Flame. Lantham, MD, Toronto: Rowman & Littlefield, 13–20. Google Scholar | |
|
Spillane, JP (2005) Distributed leadership. Educational Forum 69(2):143–150. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Spillane, JP, Halverson, R, Diamond, JB (2004) Towards a theory of leadership practice: A distributed perspective. Journal of Curriculum Studies 36(1):3–34. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Stazyk, EC (2009) Crowding out intrinsic motivation? The role of performance-related pay. Paper presented at the 10th National Public Management Research Conference, October, Columbus, OH. Google Scholar | |
|
Sturdy, A (2004) The adoption of management ideas and practices: Theoretical perspectives and possibilities. Management Learning 35(2):155–179. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Tian, M, Risku, M, Collin, K (2016) A meta-analysis of distributed leadership from 2002 to 2013: Theory development, empirical evidence and future research focus. Educational Management Administration & Leadership 44(1):146–164. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Wragg, T, Haynes, G, Chamberlin, R, Wragg, C (2003) Performance-related pay: The views and experiences of 1,000 primary and secondary head teachers. Research Papers in Education 18(1):3–23. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Youngs, H (2009) (Un)Critical times? Situating distributed leadership in the field. Journal of Educational Administration and History 41(4):377–389. Google Scholar | Crossref |
