SO WHAT IS DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP? Distributed Leadership is not a fancy flowchart of formalised leadership titles. In fact, the flowchart should be the last thing you do when defining your model. Distributed Leadership is strongly embedded in the culture and context of your school. It embodies both formal and informal leadership positions, regardless of years of experience. Anyone can lead! A true model of Distributed Leadership is easily identified by the quality of interactions taking place between the staff in your school. Quality interactions towards a common goal. That’s Distributed Leadership. Alma Harris describes it like this: “… distributed leadership is a dynamic model of leadership emanating from different patterns of interaction among those in formal and informal roles. “ p.48In another publication by Harris, considered to be the guru on distributed leadership, she states; “Implicit within distributed leadership is collective leadership responsibility rather than top down authority. It is not about giving others tasks or responsibilities but recognising that leadership practice is constructed through shared action and interaction” p. 9, Harris 2005 No mention of flowcharts. No mention of newly created leadership roles. Consider this again, “shared action and interaction” So how do you create this shared action and interaction? OUR MODEL OF DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP We have a model of Distributed Leadership that works for us. It has been commended by the likes of Bill Martin (Schools that Deliver) among others. The aim of sharing this with you is to give a true model of distributed leadership so as to highlight the distinct difference between delegation and distributed leadership. This article is not a “take away” pack for you to use and apply in your own school. It is merely an example of something that works, specifically, in its own context. But before we begin… Firstly, no school (or organisation) can operate effectively without a shared vision. Secondly, to be a high performing school, you must operate within a shared teaching and learning philosophy. Put simply, there is a systematic approach to teaching and learning across all grades in your school. These are by no means, small feats! It took our school 2-3 years to get to the satisfactory position with these two fundamentals. My best advice, is start there, don’t rush the process, then proceed. None of the following elements will work, unless you dedicate time to both school vision and culture, particularly, a shared teaching and learning philosophy. Remember, Distributed Leadership is not about the quantity of new leadership roles but about the quality of interactions between individuals. Again, my old favourite Harris sums it up best with, “…distributed leadership depends not only on individuals performing different leadership functions effectively but also on new patterns of interaction and influence among staff in the school.” WAYS TO FACILITATE INTERACTION AND INFLUENCE Here’s the thing. There are a couple things going on in our school which facilitate “interaction and influence”. Some of these include, the establishment of staff Committees, the introduction of 10 minute rounds and giving staff ownership over PLC agendas [note: no flow charts mentioned!]. One of our biggest initiatives is the Lead Teacher Initiative and the reason I am going to elaborate on this, is because there are many alternative versions of this popping up and operating at other schools. The ‘formula’ we have at our school works well within our context and we’d like to share. As Bill Martin said to us, “The school’s work on distributed leadership is as good as I have witnessed as I travel the world. It is a story worth sharing.” So I will share, in what little space I have left!
The Lead Teacher’s role is quite narrow and focussed as it is based on the school’s teaching philosophy. The philosophy will dictate areas of commendation and areas of improvement. Now, you can see why it is important to have a core teaching and learning philosophy in your school! It is the benchmark for which all teaching and learning should be measured. The Lead Teacher role should be a nomination process, either self-nominate or be nominated by peers. The role has to go to someone staff trust, or it just won’t work. Also, the role needs to have a limited time period, so as not to create an element of exclusivity. At our school, the Lead Teacher role is by nomination and is limited to two years. After this, the same teachers can nominate themselves but is heavily reliant on their peers also voting them in. Once elected, the school must invest heavily in educating and training the Lead Teachers. After all, they have a very influential role. They will require training and education around coaching, mentoring and giving feedback. These teachers will also need dedicated time release. This is a big role and an important one. As such, the Lead Teachers will need meeting time to collaborate and support each other but furthermore, classroom release time to make classroom teaching observations and provide feedback. If you want these teachers to act professionally within their role, treat them as professionals. They are not supermen or women. They will need time to foster their own skills as well as that of other teachers. I want you to consider this for a moment, in Australia, between 30-50% of teachers leave the professional within the first 5 years of their career. In January 2016, an article by Dr. Lynn Walker stated that one of the main reasons for this is that teachers do not get the mentoring they need and this not because other teachers are bad or lazy, it is because their work demands are so high that they don’t have the time to take on additional duties like mentoring staff. This is why time release for Lead Teachers is especially important. Dr Walker believes that, “One of the simplest ways is to support teachers in schools through mentoring and more flexible working conditions to allow time for innovation and reflective practice.” Dr Lynn Walker, 11th January 2016 That is EXACTLY what we have tried to do with our Lead Teacher initiative. At the end of our first year of the Lead Teacher Initiative, 81.3% of staff said they found the support from the Lead Teachers to be beneficial to their teaching (3 out of the 16 staff members surveyed, found it was not beneficial to improving their teaching practice). It is interesting to note, as the Lead Teachers were nominated by their peers, many were reluctant to take on the role. However, with a promise of support and much encouragement, they accepted the position. It has been a pleasure watching these staff members grow in confidence and grow professionally into their role as members of the extended leadership team.
So! A whole article on distributed leadership and not one flowchart in sight! The Litmus Test? Remove the flowchart and when a new staff member commences employment at your school, will everyone and anyone on your staff be able to clearly articulate how things operate in your workplace? If so, you have a model of Distribute Leadership. If not, you simply have a set of instructions for delegation. If you want to understand more about the Lead Teacher role, click here You can access the Lead Teacher Job Statement by clicking here. If you would like to see the Lead Teacher Professional Practice file, email me at [email protected] If you would like to read Dr. Lynn Walker’s article on Teacher Attrition rates, click here. If you'd like to purchase a copy of "Schools That Deliver" by John Edwards and Bill Martin, click here. If you’d like to learn more about Distributed Leadership, you can buy Distributed Leadership Matters by Alma Harris from Amazon.
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17/1/2017 05:27:24
Great work, Tania. Everyone at OLOM should be proud of their accomplishments. FYI - I will be in Perth next week. give everyone my fondest regards! Bill
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