Networked Distributed Leadership Supporting Educational Transformation

• In Event: 61.043 - Structured Poster Session: The Role of School Leadership for Sustainable Professional Learning Networks

Abstract

Objectives
For the past ten years, BC’s educational system has engaged in transformation – of curriculum, of assessment, and of beliefs and assumptions about learning. Through workplace strife, neoliberal governments, and political change, the educational change trajectory has stayed the course. In this paper we will describe a model of leadership that draws on feminist and complexity theories to examine the model of sustainable leadership, moving away from a technical managerial model to one of relational networking and shared ownership.

Theoretical framework
Building on Furman’s (2012) conception of leadership, we will explore three concepts that enable sustainable leadership: praxis, i.e., reflection and action; dimensions of leadership, i.e., personal, interpersonal, communal, systemic, and ecological; and capacities of leaders to both reflect and act in response to the needs and interests of the community.
Sustainable leadership, as described by Hargreaves and Fink (2004) “goes beyond temporary gains in achievement scores to create lasting, meaningful improvements in learning” (p.8) in which students’ intellectual, social, and emotional learning is the focus. Contextual factors of learning environments, such as gender, language, culture, and ability, create complex systems in which leaders create meaningful networks that sustain the goals of the community (Schnellert, Fisher & Sanford, 2017). Feminist leadership (Wakefield, 2017) demonstrates shared vision through reflecting, learning, and unlearning; empowering and enabling others to act; challenging oppressive norms and power; and encouraging integration of heart, mind, and body.

Methods and data sources
This paper will draw on the membership of an ongoing Professional Learning Network (3Campus/6 Sites) that has been developed over the last 5 years in British Columbia. We will draw on interview data of several of the long-standing participants to examine their conceptions of sustainable leadership that has supported their own PLN membership and ongoing educational transformation work. We elucidate the characteristics of sustainable leadership from an analysis of the transcripts, utilizing a feminist, socially just theoretical framework to inform the concept of ‘sustainable leadership’ and draw on complexity theory to describe and provide examples of sustainable leadership through our 3Campus PLN that enables the ongoing substantial educational transformation in BC, leadership that continues to support new directions in education.

Results
This paper shows how the 3Campus/6 sites LN participants’ leadership activities empowers educational transformation in BC to sustain new directions in education. Three overarching themes arose from a consideration of the findings: 1) implementation of new BC curriculum provided a catalyst for rethinking leadership with non-hierarchical networks; 2) regular meetings/connections of PLN members enabled informal emergence of collaboration and sharing that supported educational transformation, and 3) transdisciplinary connections enabled deeper and richer understandings of leadership models needed for sustained change.

Scientific or scholarly significance
Educational transformation requires the involvement and understanding of many educators and learners across multiple sectors. Traditional top-down leadership models will no longer support the ways in which PLNs work and grow, without which meaningful and deep-rooted educational change will struggle to flourish.

Authors

• Katherine J. Sanford, University of Victoria

• Kerry Robertson, University of Victoria