Distributive leadership in public schools: Experiences and perceptions of teachers in the Soweto region

In current times, the increasing demands of principalship and the complexities facing schools have led to the emergence of distributive forms of leadership in schools. The dissatisfaction with traditional models has resulted in a paradigm shift where leadership focus on the position of individuals...

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Main Authors: Suraiya R. Naicker, Raj Mestry
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of the Free State 2011-12-01
Series:Perspectives in Education
Subjects:
Online Access:http://196.255.246.28/index.php/pie/article/view/1722
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author Suraiya R. Naicker
Raj Mestry
author_facet Suraiya R. Naicker
Raj Mestry
author_sort Suraiya R. Naicker
collection DOAJ
description In current times, the increasing demands of principalship and the complexities facing schools have led to the emergence of distributive forms of leadership in schools. The dissatisfaction with traditional models has resulted in a paradigm shift where leadership focus on the position of individuals in the hierarchy has been rejected in favour of collective leadership practices. In an era of democracy, distributive leadership continues to attract attention as a relevant model for the twenty-first century school. Using a mixed methods approach, we investigated teacher experiences and perceptions of the practice of distributive leadership in South African public primary schools in the Soweto region. Soweto is a township in South Africa steeped in political history associated with the struggle against apartheid (pre-1994) and which, to date, comprises predominantly black residents. Findings from the qualitative phase of the research revealed that distributive leadership had not taken root in schools in Soweto. However, the quantitative findings showed the early stages of a movement towards distributive leadership.
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spelling doaj.art-1178f5de246546c0a66a9ce61adeaaae2024-03-18T11:12:03ZengUniversity of the Free StatePerspectives in Education0258-22362519-593X2011-12-0129410.38140/pie.v29i4.1722Distributive leadership in public schools: Experiences and perceptions of teachers in the Soweto regionSuraiya R. Naicker0Raj Mestry1University of JohannesburgUniversity of Johannesburg In current times, the increasing demands of principalship and the complexities facing schools have led to the emergence of distributive forms of leadership in schools. The dissatisfaction with traditional models has resulted in a paradigm shift where leadership focus on the position of individuals in the hierarchy has been rejected in favour of collective leadership practices. In an era of democracy, distributive leadership continues to attract attention as a relevant model for the twenty-first century school. Using a mixed methods approach, we investigated teacher experiences and perceptions of the practice of distributive leadership in South African public primary schools in the Soweto region. Soweto is a township in South Africa steeped in political history associated with the struggle against apartheid (pre-1994) and which, to date, comprises predominantly black residents. Findings from the qualitative phase of the research revealed that distributive leadership had not taken root in schools in Soweto. However, the quantitative findings showed the early stages of a movement towards distributive leadership. http://196.255.246.28/index.php/pie/article/view/1722distributive leadershipcollective leadershipparticipative leadership stylesteacher leadershipteamsprofessional development
spellingShingle Suraiya R. Naicker
Raj Mestry
Distributive leadership in public schools: Experiences and perceptions of teachers in the Soweto region
Perspectives in Education
distributive leadership
collective leadership
participative leadership styles
teacher leadership
teams
professional development
title Distributive leadership in public schools: Experiences and perceptions of teachers in the Soweto region
title_full Distributive leadership in public schools: Experiences and perceptions of teachers in the Soweto region
title_fullStr Distributive leadership in public schools: Experiences and perceptions of teachers in the Soweto region
title_full_unstemmed Distributive leadership in public schools: Experiences and perceptions of teachers in the Soweto region
title_short Distributive leadership in public schools: Experiences and perceptions of teachers in the Soweto region
title_sort distributive leadership in public schools experiences and perceptions of teachers in the soweto region
topic distributive leadership
collective leadership
participative leadership styles
teacher leadership
teams
professional development
url http://196.255.246.28/index.php/pie/article/view/1722
work_keys_str_mv AT suraiyarnaicker distributiveleadershipinpublicschoolsexperiencesandperceptionsofteachersinthesowetoregion
AT rajmestry distributiveleadershipinpublicschoolsexperiencesandperceptionsofteachersinthesowetoregion