title: Distributed forms of school leadership: A critical and sociological analysis

authors: Youngs, Howard

subjects: distributed leadership

abstract: Distributed leadership is a free-floating concept that has come to prominence in the education field. Policy-makers, researchers and practitioners alike tout it as the mode of leadership suitable for twenty-first century schools. The quantity of commentary, related typologies, research and recognition in education policy gives the impression that distributed leadership is a mature concept. Most writers appear to assume that distributed leadership is beyond controversy, contributes to official legitimised school improvement and so is in no need of any re-theorising. The thesis in this study provides an alternative view. It argues that it is time to reject the grand narrative of distributed leadership and replace it with a critical and sociological re-theorising of distributed forms of leadership that reveal how authority and symbolic power co-exist in hybrid configurations of day-to-day leadership practice. In other words, the conceptual development of distributed leadership is at a pivotal point.

Two forms of analysis led to this rejection and re-theorising. One was in the broader school and generic leadership fields, while the other was on research in schools. The discussion in the first part of this study reveals that existent theorising and research of distributed leadership is predominantly silent around power, micropolitics, and the performative policies that have created environments conducive to distributed leadership being recommended as a ‘vehicle’ for reform. Most of the research to date can be categorised as either descriptive, with a tendency to be apolitical, or normative, with a tendency to oversimplify complexity. However, a critical analysis of related typologies and research suggests that there is a recent acknowledgment that distributed leadership exists in differing forms and is more complex than originally thought.

The school-based research in part two of this study was a commitment to understand day-to-day leadership practice in situ over 20 months, in two New Zealand suburban secondary schools. This investigation confirmed that existing conceptualisations, normative research and commentary of distributed leadership tended to be over-simplified. The distributed forms of leadership that emerged in each school were unique, due to the different educative, social, political and historical contexts that shaped and re-shaped the differing forms over time. There was no one preferred way of understanding how leadership existed in distributed forms. Analysis of the case studies led to the development of an analytical framework that can help understand the complexity of distributed forms of leadership that schools rely on.

The third and final part focuses on the thesis of this study. It rejects the distributed leadership grand narrative and argues for a critical and sociological re-theorising, that incorporates symbolic capital, symbolic power and authority. The re-theorising illustrates how authoritative capital co-exists with human, cultural and social forms of capital to form organisational and emergent distributed forms of leadership in hybrid configurations. This leads to a satisfactory theorising of distributed forms of leadership that builds on the complexity recently acknowledged in the field and reflects the reality of day-to-day school leadership practice.

text: Distributed forms of school leadership: A critical and sociological analysis Distributed leadership is a free-floating concept that has come to prominence in the education field. Policy-makers, researchers and practitioners alike tout it as the mode of leadership suitable for twenty-first century schools. The quantity of commentary, related typologies, research and recognition in education policy gives the impression that distributed leadership is a mature concept. Most writers appear to assume that distributed leadership is beyond controversy, contributes to official legitimised school improvement and so is in no need of any re-theorising. The thesis in this study provides an alternative view. It argues that it is time to reject the grand narrative of distributed leadership and replace it with a critical and sociological re-theorising of distributed forms of leadership that reveal how authority and symbolic power co-exist in hybrid configurations of day-to-day leadership practice. In other words, the conceptual development of distributed leadership is at a pivotal point.

Two forms of analysis led to this rejection and re-theorising. One was in the broader school and generic leadership fields, while the other was on research in schools. The discussion in the first part of this study reveals that existent theorising and research of distributed leadership is predominantly silent around power, micropolitics, and the performative policies that have created environments conducive to distributed leadership being recommended as a ‘vehicle’ for reform. Most of the research to date can be categorised as either descriptive, with a tendency to be apolitical, or normative, with a tendency to oversimplify complexity. However, a critical analysis of related typologies and research suggests that there is a recent acknowledgment that distributed leadership exists in differing forms and is more complex than originally thought.

The school-based research in part two of this study was a commitment to understand day-to-day leadership practice in situ over 20 months, in two New Zealand suburban secondary schools. This investigation confirmed that existing conceptualisations, normative research and commentary of distributed leadership tended to be over-simplified. The distributed forms of leadership that emerged in each school were unique, due to the different educative, social, political and historical contexts that shaped and re-shaped the differing forms over time. There was no one preferred way of understanding how leadership existed in distributed forms. Analysis of the case studies led to the development of an analytical framework that can help understand the complexity of distributed forms of leadership that schools rely on.

The third and final part focuses on the thesis of this study. It rejects the distributed leadership grand narrative and argues for a critical and sociological re-theorising, that incorporates symbolic capital, symbolic power and authority. The re-theorising illustrates how authoritative capital co-exists with human, cultural and social forms of capital to form organisational and emergent distributed forms of leadership in hybrid configurations. This leads to a satisfactory theorising of distributed forms of leadership that builds on the complexity recently acknowledged in the field and reflects the reality of day-to-day school leadership practice.

year: 2012

title: The relationship between work and non-work support and work-life balance in Taiwan

authors: Chang, Ruby Yi-Ju

subjects: work life balance

abstract: The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between employees' supportive resource (workplace support and non-work support) and their work-life balance in Taiwan. The roles of work-life balance's four components (work-to-life conflict, life-to-work conflict, work-to-life facilitation, and life-to-work facilitation) in the relationship between support and employee outcomes (psychological wellbeing, turnover intention, affective- and continuance organizational commitment) were examined.

Eight-hundred surveys were distributed to for-profit and non-profit sectors. After eliminating the invalid questionnaires, 658 valid questionnaires were used for further analysis. The findings of this study suggested that three kinds of support (organizational support, supervisor support, and non-work support) were positively related to employees' work-life balance. However, no significant relationship was found between the availability and usage of the work-life balance policies and employees' work-life balance. More importantly, it was found that work-life balance and four components mediate the relationship between supervisor support and all employee outcomes. The relationship between employees' awareness of the policies that organization offered and favourable employee outcomes is also mediated by work-life balance. Interestingly, the availability and usage of the policies were not found to be related to either employees' better work-life balance or favourable employee outcomes. It is thus recommended that emphasizing supervisor support might be a better option than introducing various work-life balance policies for employees to achieve a better work-life balance. Otherwise, the work-life balance policies offered have to meet employees' needs.

text: The relationship between work and non-work support and work-life balance in Taiwan The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between employees' supportive resource (workplace support and non-work support) and their work-life balance in Taiwan. The roles of work-life balance's four components (work-to-life conflict, life-to-work conflict, work-to-life facilitation, and life-to-work facilitation) in the relationship between support and employee outcomes (psychological wellbeing, turnover intention, affective- and continuance organizational commitment) were examined.

Eight-hundred surveys were distributed to for-profit and non-profit sectors. After eliminating the invalid questionnaires, 658 valid questionnaires were used for further analysis. The findings of this study suggested that three kinds of support (organizational support, supervisor support, and non-work support) were positively related to employees' work-life balance. However, no significant relationship was found between the availability and usage of the work-life balance policies and employees' work-life balance. More importantly, it was found that work-life balance and four components mediate the relationship between supervisor support and all employee outcomes. The relationship between employees' awareness of the policies that organization offered and favourable employee outcomes is also mediated by work-life balance. Interestingly, the availability and usage of the policies were not found to be related to either employees' better work-life balance or favourable employee outcomes. It is thus recommended that emphasizing supervisor support might be a better option than introducing various work-life balance policies for employees to achieve a better work-life balance. Otherwise, the work-life balance policies offered have to meet employees' needs.

year: 2009

title: Moving away from home: Some social consequences for Tūhoe migrating to the Waikato

authors: Nikora, Linda Waimarie

subjects: psychology

abstract: To better understand the social consequences of migration away from traditional iwi regions, Tūhoe researchers intensively interviewed 40 Tūhoe people who had moved to the Waikato. It was found that most missed whanau and the community and made regular visits back home. Participants reported utilizing extensive whanau links to set themselves up in the Waikato, and many joined the Tūhoe associations in the Waikato. Others who did not join reported liking the idea that Tūhoe were there if needed. Some participants felt stronger in their Tūhoe identity since moving, and most reported noticing changes occurring in themselves or those back home over this period (they felt more worldly but saw those back home as more insular). While they did not interact much with tangata whenua, or participate in tangata whenua events, many said that they had a better appreciation of the local Tainui and the Kīngitanga groups since migrating. Finally, most would like to return to their iwi region for employment if it were available but saw little chance of this happening, and most reported wanting to retire there. The policy implications of both these points are explored.

text: Moving away from home: Some social consequences for Tūhoe migrating to the Waikato To better understand the social consequences of migration away from traditional iwi regions, Tūhoe researchers intensively interviewed 40 Tūhoe people who had moved to the Waikato. It was found that most missed whanau and the community and made regular visits back home. Participants reported utilizing extensive whanau links to set themselves up in the Waikato, and many joined the Tūhoe associations in the Waikato. Others who did not join reported liking the idea that Tūhoe were there if needed. Some participants felt stronger in their Tūhoe identity since moving, and most reported noticing changes occurring in themselves or those back home over this period (they felt more worldly but saw those back home as more insular). While they did not interact much with tangata whenua, or participate in tangata whenua events, many said that they had a better appreciation of the local Tainui and the Kīngitanga groups since migrating. Finally, most would like to return to their iwi region for employment if it were available but saw little chance of this happening, and most reported wanting to retire there. The policy implications of both these points are explored.

year: 2004