Leading Schools in Rural Communities: In Search of Collaborative Leadership

• In Event: Leading Rurally: Lessons on Leadership in Australian and American Rural Education

Abstract

Purpose
In this paper, we synthesize salient theoretical and empirical work on collaboration and school leadership to position collaborative leadership as essential to addressing challenges and opportunities facing rural schools and communities. We suggest how collaborative leadership competencies and skills might inform the practice and preparation of school leaders and offer two authentic stories from rural leaders who embrace school-community collaboration. In the final section, we recommend research that could advance the practice of collaborative leadership to solve “wicked challenges” of rural schools.

Theoretical Framework
More than 27,500 public schools (28% of nation’s total) are located in rural areas and enroll almost 10 million students, or 19.5 percent of all public school students. Core content standards of educational leadership preparation programs required for state-licensure as a school (or district) administrator commonly support national and state accountability outcomes desired for public schools. Leading schools in rural communities, however, is inextricably linked to leadership approaches attentive to the rural context and may differ appreciably from traditional leadership models in both conceptual and practical terms. Increasingly, collaborative leadership is essential for addressing some of rural education’s most critical challenges.

Methods
Collaboration theory is in its infancy but developing rapidly. Attentive to the conceptual and empirical work on factors of successful collaboration, we offer three brief discussions intended to illustrate collaborative leadership in rural contexts. We review how collaboration qualities are integrated into the preparation and evaluation of school leaders in the US context, including how collaborative leadership manifests in the standards that frame and operationalize desired leadership practice. We then share qualitative accounts of collaborative leadership in action in two rural settings, one in Alabama and one in Oklahoma.

Data Sources
We use The Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory, standards and competencies of the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSELs), and qualitative case sites to illustrate relevance of collaborative leadership in rural context. We draw on salient literature to pose five examples of wicked challenges faced by leaders of rural schools.

Results
We highlight 10 competencies in the PSEL standards to illustrate potential of collaborative leadership in addressing needs of rural communities and offer two authentic stories. We describe a rural school in northwest Alabama where collaboration was essential to meet food insecurity needs; and a rural Oklahoma school where educator-community collaboration was the key to enhanced student learning and engagement of families. We also offer example collaborative leadership research questions for addressing wicked rural school leadership challenges of school consolidation, teacher recruitment and retention, school curriculum and learning opportunities, education for sustainable development, and rural school innovation.

Scholarly Significance of the Study
This paper advances understanding of collaborative leadership for those engaged in policy or practice of the more than 27,500 public schools located in rural areas of the United States that serve almost 10 million students. We offer 15 example research questions to guide researchers in investigating applications of collaborative leadership to wicked challenges of rural schools.

Authors

• Hobart L. Harmon, Professional Consulting and Research Services

• Jerry Johnson, East Carolina University