Investigating Leadership Practice: Exploring the Entailments of Taking a Distributed Perspective

This paper examines two questions: What does it mean to take a distributed perspective on leadership in schools? What are the entailments of taking a distributed perspective for research on school leadership? Arguing that the practice of leadership should be a key concern in scholarship on school leadership, the authors explore the leader-plus and the practice aspects of taking a distributed perspective. Arguing that both aspects are essential when taking a distributed perspective, the authors review findings from recent research that dwells mostly on the leader-plus aspect. Turning to the second question, the authors explore the methodological challenges involved in taking a distributed perspective.