TY - JOUR
T1 - Distributed leadership in Irish post-primary schools
T2 - mapping the state of the art
AU - Hickey, Niamh
AU - Flaherty, Aishling
AU - Mannix McNamara, Patricia
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Distributed leadership is currently to the forefront of emerging educational leadership literature, policy, and practice. It is suggested that the pressures exerted on schools during the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in distributed leadership becoming a default leadership style in schools. The adoption of a distributed leadership approach is supported by Irish school policy, yet little is known about its implementation. The aim of this study was to map the current state of distributed leadership in Irish post-primary schools from the perspective of school personnel. Data were collected from 337 participants using an online survey comprising Likert-type statements complimented with open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to analyse the data. Findings reveal disparities specific to how distributed leadership is implemented in schools, (if at all), including the division of labour, the impact of culture and complexities in relationships among staff. In this paper, recommendations are made regarding the need to further conceptualise the culture required for distributed leadership to flourish, the division of labour, and teacher leadership in a distributed leadership approach, as well as a focus on building positive relationships.
AB - Distributed leadership is currently to the forefront of emerging educational leadership literature, policy, and practice. It is suggested that the pressures exerted on schools during the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in distributed leadership becoming a default leadership style in schools. The adoption of a distributed leadership approach is supported by Irish school policy, yet little is known about its implementation. The aim of this study was to map the current state of distributed leadership in Irish post-primary schools from the perspective of school personnel. Data were collected from 337 participants using an online survey comprising Likert-type statements complimented with open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to analyse the data. Findings reveal disparities specific to how distributed leadership is implemented in schools, (if at all), including the division of labour, the impact of culture and complexities in relationships among staff. In this paper, recommendations are made regarding the need to further conceptualise the culture required for distributed leadership to flourish, the division of labour, and teacher leadership in a distributed leadership approach, as well as a focus on building positive relationships.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Distributed leadership
KW - post-primary schools
KW - school culture
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85195326613&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/03323315.2024.2359697
DO - 10.1080/03323315.2024.2359697
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85195326613
SN - 0332-3315
JO - Irish Educational Studies
JF - Irish Educational Studies
ER -