A Distributed Perspective on School Leadership and Management

During the past decade, the concept of distributed leadership has attracted a great deal of attention; however, the usage of the term varies widely. For some, distributed leadership is a conceptual lens for studying or diagnosing the phenomena of leadership and management, whereas others use it as a prescription – an improvement strategy for schools. Regardless of how it is used, clarity about what it means is essential; otherwise, it will be impossible for the field to use a distributed perspective to amass a knowledge base, test hypotheses, develop improvement strategies, and move forward. This article explores what it means to take a distributed perspective in investigating school leadership and management and considers the empirical knowledge base.