The Role of Distributed Leadership in Networked School Improvement: Evidence From New Zealand

• In Event: 29.025 - Perceptions of Distributed Leadership and Educational Outcomes

Abstract

Networked improvement communities (NICs) for school improvement have proliferated worldwide, yet with inconsistent impacts on student outcomes. Subsequent research has emphasized the importance of formally distributed leadership in network success, but few studies have examined the influence of informal leaders in NICs, and no such study has been conducted in New Zealand. This study uses social network analysis and qualitative methods to explore formal and informal distributed leadership among leadership teams of nine networks of the Learning and Change Network strategy, a New Zealand NIC initiative. Preliminary findings suggest that networks with flatter power structures and dense, frequent knowledge sharing between all roles can better develop improvement capability, and that informal leaders may play a brokering role for less-connected members.

Author

• Sarah McKibben, U.S. Fulbright Program