1. Conceptions of Leadership
ICSEI, 2009
Vancouver
Professor Alma Harris

2. How do we secure and sustain school and system transformation?

3. Distributed leadership (Harris 2008)
Leadership practice shared and extended within and between and outside organisations:

4. Conceptions of Leadership
Does the current emphasis on distributed leadership balance an unhealthy focus on the heroic leader
or does it just blur responsibility and produce a conceptual and practical muddle?

5. Conceptual Confusion (Harris, 2007)
Theoretical/
Analytical
Normative/
Applied SI
Learning
Descriptive/
Democratic

6. Conceptions of Leadership
What evidence is there that distributed leadership makes a difference to organisational outcomes and individual outcomes?

7. Seven Strong Claims about Successful School Leadership (Leithwood, Day, Sammons, Harris and Hopkins, 2006)
School leadership has a greater influence on learning when it is widely distributed
Some patterns of leadership distribution are much more effective at raising achievement than others

8. Sources of Evidence (Harris, 2008)
Organisational Development and School Improvement Literature
Teacher Leadership Literature
Recent Studies of School Leadership

9. Recent Studies
Harris and Muijs, (2004) Camburn (2008) Leithwood and Mascall (2008) Hallinger and Heck, (2008/9) Day et al 2009 Louis et al 2009

10. Distributed Leadership and Student Learning
Analysis of data collected from teachers and students in 191 elementary schools over a period of four years suggests that distributed leadership impacts positively upon student achievement. (Hallinger and Heck, 2009)

11. How and in what form can we maximise the impact of DL on learning?”
Wrong Question
The question to ask is not
“Does distributed leadership make a difference to student learning?”
BUT
How and in what form can we maximise the impact of DL on learning?”

12. Conceptions of Leadership
How can we best utilise the evidence we have?

13. DL can assist us in asking
Are we maximising leadership capacity? Are we actively developing lateral and vertical leadership?
Are leaders in the right places to positively influence instruction?
Are we distributing rather than delegating?
Are we realigning and restructuring leadership activity when necessary?
Are we abandoning leadership practices that are hindering organisational growth and change?

14. Why? High Impact Leadership