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Current issues in educational management and leadership
Edited by Kadir Beycioglu
Introduction
Distributed leadership, or the expansion of leadership roles in schools, beyond those in formal leadership or administrative posts, represents one of the most influential ideas to emerge in the field of educational leadership in the past decade ([4] Hallinger and Heck, 2009). The idea of distributed leadership as "leadership shared within and between schools" ([8] Harris, 2008, p. 16) has found favour with researchers, policy makers, practitioners and educational reformers around the globe ([16] Spillane, 2006; [8] Harris, 2008; [11] Leithwood et al. , 2009). Few ideas, it seems, have provoked as much attention, debate and controversy in the school leadership field, than this particular concept.
Distributed leadership is the dominant leadership idea of the moment, even though its genesis can be traced back to the field of organizational theory in the mid-1960s (Barnard, 1968) and possibly even further. While the idea of shared, collaborative or participative leadership is far from new, distributed leadership theory has provided a new lens on a familiar theme. The work of [14] Spillane et al. (2001) has sparked renewed interest in leadership as practice focusing particularly on the interactions between leaders, followers and their situation. This work on distributed leadership theory reinforces that there are multiple sources of influence within any organisation and has focused empirical attention on the "leader plus" aspect of leadership work ([16] Spillane, 2006, p. 3).
The current conversation about educational leadership has shifted decidedly towards a focus upon distributed or multiple sources of influence and agency ([10] Leithwood and Mascallm, 2008, p. 529). While this shift, in part, reflects some disillusionment with individual conceptions of leadership often characterised as the "great man" theory, it does not imply that principals are redundant. The research evidence highlights that without the support of the principal, distributed leadership is unlikely to flourish or be sustained. Evidence shows that effective principals orchestrate the structural and cultural conditions in which distributed leadership is more or less likely. They play a key role in leadership distribution and are a critical component in building leadership capacity throughout the school. At the school level, to varying degrees all change flows through the principal's office. As [13] Murphy et al. (2009,...