Challenges in distributed leadership: evidence from the perspective of headteachers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the issues and challenges faced by headteachers in practicing the suggested distributed leadership (DL) approach in three primary schools to their middle layer leaders. Design/methodology/approach – The study employed a case study design and data...

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Main Authors: Tahir, L. M., Lee, S. L., Musah, M. B., Jaffri, H., Said, M. N. H. M., Yasin, M. H. M.
Format: Article
Published: Emerald Group Publishing Ltd. 2016
Subjects:
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author Tahir, L. M.
Lee, S. L.
Musah, M. B.
Jaffri, H.
Said, M. N. H. M.
Yasin, M. H. M.
author_facet Tahir, L. M.
Lee, S. L.
Musah, M. B.
Jaffri, H.
Said, M. N. H. M.
Yasin, M. H. M.
author_sort Tahir, L. M.
collection ePrints
description Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the issues and challenges faced by headteachers in practicing the suggested distributed leadership (DL) approach in three primary schools to their middle layer leaders. Design/methodology/approach – The study employed a case study design and data were collected through semi-structured interviews. A total of three headteachers were interviewed in examining and exploring challenges within the DL practices. The transcripts from the semi-structured interviews formed the basis of the findings. Findings – The findings suggest that senior teachers lack confidence in making decisions and rely on the consent from headteachers even though they are empowered to make their own decisions. Another significant issue faced by headteachers when distributing their leadership is the ability, expertise, experience, and willingness of teachers to hold leadership roles and responsibilities. Originality/value – The results are important since there have been few empirical studies on the issues and challenges faced by headteachers in practising DL approach in primary schools in the context of Malaysia. This initiative sidelines the traditional school leadership approach which emphasises on the accountability of headteachers as the sole school leader.
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spelling utm.eprints-722052017-11-20T08:18:53Z http://eprints.utm.my/72205/ Challenges in distributed leadership: evidence from the perspective of headteachers Tahir, L. M. Lee, S. L. Musah, M. B. Jaffri, H. Said, M. N. H. M. Yasin, M. H. M. L Education (General) Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the issues and challenges faced by headteachers in practicing the suggested distributed leadership (DL) approach in three primary schools to their middle layer leaders. Design/methodology/approach – The study employed a case study design and data were collected through semi-structured interviews. A total of three headteachers were interviewed in examining and exploring challenges within the DL practices. The transcripts from the semi-structured interviews formed the basis of the findings. Findings – The findings suggest that senior teachers lack confidence in making decisions and rely on the consent from headteachers even though they are empowered to make their own decisions. Another significant issue faced by headteachers when distributing their leadership is the ability, expertise, experience, and willingness of teachers to hold leadership roles and responsibilities. Originality/value – The results are important since there have been few empirical studies on the issues and challenges faced by headteachers in practising DL approach in primary schools in the context of Malaysia. This initiative sidelines the traditional school leadership approach which emphasises on the accountability of headteachers as the sole school leader. Emerald Group Publishing Ltd. 2016 Article PeerReviewed Tahir, L. M. and Lee, S. L. and Musah, M. B. and Jaffri, H. and Said, M. N. H. M. and Yasin, M. H. M. (2016) Challenges in distributed leadership: evidence from the perspective of headteachers. International Journal of Educational Management, 30 (6). pp. 848-863. ISSN 0951-354X https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84982921005&doi=10.1108%2fIJEM-02-2015-0014&partnerID=40&md5=9e2cfab5f7f81f75711f4be07245609f
spellingShingle L Education (General)
Tahir, L. M.
Lee, S. L.
Musah, M. B.
Jaffri, H.
Said, M. N. H. M.
Yasin, M. H. M.
Challenges in distributed leadership: evidence from the perspective of headteachers
title Challenges in distributed leadership: evidence from the perspective of headteachers
title_full Challenges in distributed leadership: evidence from the perspective of headteachers
title_fullStr Challenges in distributed leadership: evidence from the perspective of headteachers
title_full_unstemmed Challenges in distributed leadership: evidence from the perspective of headteachers
title_short Challenges in distributed leadership: evidence from the perspective of headteachers
title_sort challenges in distributed leadership evidence from the perspective of headteachers
topic L Education (General)
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AT musahmb challengesindistributedleadershipevidencefromtheperspectiveofheadteachers
AT jaffrih challengesindistributedleadershipevidencefromtheperspectiveofheadteachers
AT saidmnhm challengesindistributedleadershipevidencefromtheperspectiveofheadteachers
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