Unspoken Power: Hidden Curricula and Distributed Leadership in a K–12 Public School District

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Innovations in Re-Defining Effective School Leadership Styles

Abstract

This study explores how hidden curricula, unspoken norms, values, and beliefs shape leadership culture in a small urban K–12 school district in the San Francisco Bay Area. Focusing on a shift from hierarchical to distributed leadership through a Principal Community of Practice (CoP), the research reveals how informal norms can both reinforce and disrupt power structures. Through interviews, feedback forms, and reflective practice this phenomenological study shows that distributed leadership is most successful when relational trust, psychological safety, and shared agency are actively fostered. The findings suggest that educational leaders who understand and intentionally surface hidden curricula are better positioned to disrupt default hierarchies and support more collaborative leadership practices, ultimately improving site leader engagement, coherence, and student outcomes.

Author

• Vernon L Walton, Alameda Unified School District