I have been wondering about the idea of leadership with a little l for quite a while now. I first came upon Alma Harris’ distributed leadership in an article within ACER’s Teacher magazine. This then led me to Harris’ book Distributed Leadership Matters.
What stood out was the focus on conditions of learning and trust, rather than particular actions and attributes. Coupled with Disciplined Collaboration, Harris provides something of a vision for empowering staff to lead the change from the ground on up. It clearly addresses the how and why, leaving the what up to you.
Although not designed to replace traditional leadership structures and expectations, it is hard to imagine that things remaining the same. Below then is a collection of my notes and quotes from reading.
"While failure is not uncommon, the response to failure is what defines outstanding and exceptional leaders" @AlmaHarris1 #distriblead
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 12, 2015
"The real issue is not about finding extra time but in using the existing time more productively." @AlmaHarris1 #distriblead
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 12, 2015
"Important 2b clear about intentions/expectations as, when not adequately explained, #distriblead can be easily misconstrued" @AlmaHarris1
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 12, 2015
"#Distriblead is not intrinsically a gd or a bd thing. Like any form of l'ship, depends upon situation & context & how enacted" @AlmaHarris1
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 12, 2015
"Diff b/n high performing & low performing schs can be attributed to different degrees of leadership distribution" @AlmaHarris1 #distriblead
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 12, 2015
"Distrib model of lship focuses upon interactions, rather than actions, of those in formal & informal lship roles" @AlmaHarris1 #distriblead
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 12, 2015
"#distriblead doesnt mean everybody leads but rather that everybody has potential 2 lead, at some time, depending on expertise & experience"
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 12, 2015
"Unless there is disciplined inquiry at the core of collab PL, it is unlikely to make a diff to learner outcomes" @AlmaHarris1 #distriblead
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 12, 2015
"The world is changing, learning is changing, and so should leadership." @AlmaHarris1 #distriblead
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 12, 2015
"What type of l'ship do we need 2 secure the best outcomes 4 young ppl, & how do we chng our structures 2 make this happen?" #distriblead
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 12, 2015
"Fact remains that in terms of a schs perf, l'ship is 2nd only 2 the influence of tching & lrning on sts outcomes" @AlmaHarris1 #distriblead
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 12, 2015
"#distriblead is characterized by high levels of trust, interdependence, reciprocal accountability, & shared purpose" @AlmaHarris1
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 12, 2015
"While relationship building is important, relationship building w/ purpose is far more likely 2 secure prod & positive change" #distriblead
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 13, 2015
"While it may be true that 2 heads r better than one— if the 2 heads think the same, then collab will yield relatively little" #distriblead
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 13, 2015
"The quality of an org … comes down 2 one thing & one thing only: how far & how quickly u trust others within the org" #distriblead
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 13, 2015
"For professional learning to have an impact, then systematic and sustained professional collaboration is needed" @AlmaHarris1 #distriblead
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 13, 2015
"The job of a PLC can be summed up in three words: 'improving learner outcomes'" @MichelleSJones1 & @AlmaHarris1 #distriblead
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 15, 2015
"COP r groups of ppl who share passion 4 something they do & lrn how 2do more effectively as they interact reg & lrn 2gether" #distriblead
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 15, 2015
"Teachers can only become more effective in their own practice through #disciplinedcollab and inquiry" @AlmaHarris1 #distriblead
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 15, 2015
"In professional collaboration, the learning belongs to the group; it is a collective enterprise" @AlmaHarris1 #distriblead
— Aaron Davis 🏘️ (@mrkrndvs) October 17, 2015
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Distributed Leadership Matters – A Summary by Aaron Davis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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