Identifying the conditions for the establishment of distributed leadership in the primary schools in Mashhad, Iran
Publisher: name: The University Of Kurdistan
Year: 2021

description: Distributed leadership moves beyond the philosophy that leadership is generated\nsolely by the role and position of the principal and instead frames leadership\nas a practice that involves an array of individuals whose dynamic interactions\nmobilize and guide teachers in the process of instructional change. Spillane\n(2001, 2005, 2007) developed a distributed perspective on leadership that\nshifted the focus from the gallant actions of the school principal to the results\nof the combined interactions of school leaders, followers, and their use of\nartifacts in various situations. The purpose of this study was to examine the\ndistributed leadership practices of principals in primary schools from the\nviewpoint of their teachers and to identify the conditions for the\nestablishment of distributed leadership in these schools in Mashhad, Iran. The\nsurvey method was conducted on all the primary school teachers in the third\ndistricts of Mashhad and Tabadkan. In total, 335 teachers were selected as the\nsample population using Morgan's table. Data were collected using Spillane 's\nscale and interview. In the conceptual framework proposed by Spillane\n(2002), the four dimensions of distributed leadership include mission, culture,\nshared responsibility, and leadership experiences. In terms of mission, vision,\nand goals, special emphasis is placed on the knowledge of all school\nmembers about the school's goals, which examines the current status of\ndistributed leadership in schools indicating the above-average average of this\nvariable in our schools. Based on the results of this study, the mean of distributed leadership was 3.683. it seems distributed leadership is a complex\nphenomenon with teachers engaged in all four dimensions in the primary\nschools. Accordingly, distributive leadership status in the primary schools\nwas above the average level. As a result of comparing the current and\ndesirable status, there was a significant difference between the current\nsituation and the desirable status of distributed leadership in the schools\nstudied. The main gap between the status quo and the desirable component of\nparticipatory decision making seems to be that in the schools studied to track\nstudents' educational needs, there is usually no regular meeting with\ncounselors or educational professionals and no attention is paid to students\nwith needs. moreover, it seems that teacher evaluation results are used less to\nevaluate school curricula and teacher's useless feedback and evaluation\nresults and manager observations to improve classroom instruction. Based on\nthe findings of this study, it seems that the approach of the studied schools\nhas been inclined towards distributive leadership, especially in the last five\nyears, also the school principals, have tried to recognize the goals particularly\nin the field of mission, attitude, and goals of the school. However, as it was\nstated earlier to inform all members about the goals and to involve the\nmembers in the implementation of the goals and also to align the goals of the\nschool with the educational goals, more work is needed, which shows the gap\nbetween the current situation and the desired one. According to the interview\ndata, the establishment of distributed leadership in primary schools requires\nthe incorporation of concepts such as vision and goal setting, organization,\noptimism culture, enabler structure, and student-centered. Studies in Iran so\nfar have not looked at school prospects and organizations as components of\ndistributed leadership, but there has been some research into the culture of\noptimism and its underlying components such as self-efficacy and academic\nachievement as well as professional empowerment. In sum, this study\nrevealed the acceptable attention to organizing people in appropriate\nsituations to share school responsibilities and complete tasks by individuals,\nalso to expand and develop leadership capabilities and publish leadership\ntasks among individuals in the school social network and the spread of school\nculture.\nAs a growing body of research on distributed leadership has begun to influence\nof this leadership style on school performance and student learning. For\nexample, the results of Abbasian et al. (2012), Gholami et al. (2014),\nMohammadi (2011), Nasiri et al. (1395), Arianfar et al. (9013) studies, in line\nwith the results of this study, confirmed that the distributed leadership status\nin primary schools especially in Iran. It is slightly above average in schools. \nHowever, Spielan (2005), Groen (2002), Bennett (203), and Ilzofeng (2001)\nemphasized on the school landscape component. In the school organization\ncomponent, the status of the schools under study was reported to be above\naverage. In the school organization, the focus is on knowledge, education,\nand learning in the context of school culture. The results of this study showed\na moderate focus on organizing people in the right situations to share school\nresponsibilities and completing tasks by individuals and expanding and\ndeveloping. Leadership capabilities and dissemination of leadership tasks\namong individuals in the school social network and the prevalence of school\nculture. Consideration of the component of individual organization based on\nleadership tasks has also been emphasized in the studies of Harris (2008);\nLewis et al. (2009); Woodsograwen (2009); Woods et al. (2004); Bennett et\nal. (2003). Participatory decision making also had a higher-than-average\nmean in this research, a point that scholars such as Lewis, Mayrowitz,\nSmiley, and Murphy, Van Amijd, Bilesbury, and Van Morsi, (2009);\nTimberley, 2008; Mayrowitz et al., (2007), They have emphasized it. In this\nstudy, leadership behaviors were above average, a topic that has been\nmentioned in Spillane’s theory of leadership experiences that includes\nleadership tools, thoughts, and intentions. These results were consistent with\nthe findings of scholars (e.g., Lewis; Leitz Wood & Growan 2000; Storm,\nWall, 2004; Bush; Gluner, 2003). This study supports the creation of\nconditionss for principals and teacher teams to attend professional\ndevelopment that allows them to work alongside one another to improve the\nleadership practices in their schools. Traditional approaches to professional\ndevelopment are designed so that principals and teachers attend\nprofessional development school performance. opportunities separately and\noften unrelated to one another. Thus, principal preparation programs must\ncreate courses that incorporate complex and multidimensional activities to\ndevelop their capacity to identify the strengths of their teachers, provide\nopportunities for teachers to take on leadership roles in their areas of interest\nor expertise, and guide and direct the teachers to utilize material and cultural\nartifacts in order to improve .