Excerpts From “Distributed Leadership What’s All The Hoopla?” James

excerpts from “distributed leadership: what’s all the hoopla?” james p. spillane institute for policy research school of education and soci

Excerpts from “Distributed Leadership: What’s All the Hoopla?”
James P. Spillane
Institute for Policy Research School of Education and Social Policy
Northwestern University
“. . . A distributed perspective on leadership argues that school
leadership practice is distributed in the interactions of school
leaders, followers, and their situation. Two issues need to be
underscored here. To begin with, distributed leadership is first and
foremost about leadership practice rather than leaders, leadership
roles, or leadership functions. Leadership practice is the core unit
of analysis in trying to understand school leadership from a
distributed perspective.
A second critical point is that practice is defined or takes form in
the interactive web of leaders, followers, and their situation. . .
The issue here to grapple with is that leadership practice is not
equivalent to the actions of the principal or some other school
leader. Simply, leadership practice is not a function of what a leader
knows and does. From a distributed perspective, leadership practice
takes shape in the interactions of people and their situation, rather
than from the actions of an individual leader.”
“ . . . From a distributed perspective, a core challenge involves
figuring out how leadership practice is distributed over leaders and
followers. It involves unpacking the interdependencies among leaders
and followers in leadership practice. Leadership is typically thought
of as something that is done to followers. From a distributed
perspective, this is problematic because followers’ co-produce
leadership practice in interaction with leaders.
While individual leaders act, they do so in a situation that is
defined in part by the actions of others - their actions are
interdependent – and it is in these interactions leadership practice
takes shape.”