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Exploring the Role of Cultural and Policy Context in Distributed Leadership Practices in the US and Denmark

This study examines the influence of cultural and policy context on distributed leadership practices in schools in the US and Denmark. The findings highlight the importance of formal and socially distributed leadership in shaping teaching and learning environments. The study also discusses the implications for distributed leadership and potential models for school leadership.

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Exploring the Role of Cultural and Policy Context in Distributed Leadership Practices in the US and Denmark

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  1. Exploring the Role of Cultural and Policy Context in Distributed Leadership Practices in the US and Denmark The Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning: CALL and CALL-DKNERA Congress 2016 Helsinki, Finland Carolyn Kelley (UW-Madison), HelleBjerg (University College Capital, UCC), SørenHornskov (University College Capital, UCC), Marsha Modeste (Penn State)

  2. Introduction and background • The authorsexplore the research potential of the CALL survey and shareknowledge on the interplay of policy and leadershippractice in schools, especially the forms of distributedleadership. • Weuse the CALL survey to collect data for comparative research. CALL wasdesigned to assessleadership for learningin educationalpractice. • The discussions and analysis presented here were co-funded by a network grant from the Danish Ministry of Research.

  3. Purpose • To measure distributed instructional leadership practices in schools in the US and Denmark • To explore how policy and cultural context shape distributed leadership practices in schools • To inform the distributed leadership literature with respect to the measurement of tasks and the relationships between context and leadership tasks

  4. Research questions • Whatcan CALL tellusaboutdistributedleadershippracticesin the US and Denmark? • How may the contexts of cultural professional norms and policy shapethesepractices?

  5. Twofindings • Strongerleadershippracticesassociated with the role of the formal leader as instructionalleader in the US • Strongerleadershippracticesassociated with sociallydistributedleadership in Denmark

  6. CALL* Leadership Model • Focus on Learning • Formative and Summative Assessment of Teaching and Learning • Building Professional Learning Communities • Acquiring and Allocating Resources • Maintaining a Safe and Effective Learning Environment *Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning

  7. Comparison of policy contexts

  8. Conceptual Framework: Distributed Leadership Leader Follower Situation (Spillane, 2006)

  9. Distributed Leadership Reflects a Conceptual Shift Tasks Tools Routines

  10. Methods and Data Sources

  11. Procedures and Analysis

  12. Results: US Schools Higher p<0.001***, p<0.01**, p<0.05*

  13. Results: No Differences Between Countries p<0.001***, p<0.01**, p<0.05*

  14. Results: Danish Schools Higher p<0.001***, p<0.01**, p<0.05* For the items in subdomain 1.3, Integrated Instructional Design, we find no statistically significant difference in the mean scores between CALL-US and CALL-DK.

  15. Findings: Leadership Practices across Contexts

  16. Findings and Discussion

  17. Discussion and Implications: Formal Leadership for distributed leadership • The alignment of school vision and goals focusing on learning and teaching and how these are followed up by formal leaders and within cooperation of the staff • Overall a higher degree of distributed leadership in the form of alignment through particular practices (organisational routines) and tasks of leaders and staff defining the ways in which joint visions and goals are integrated and shaping accountability, collaboration and, possibly, instructional design

  18. Discussion and Implications: Socially Distributed Leadership • Socially distributed leadership in the form of greater influence and decision making capacity on scheduling, time use etc. • Imprints of a Danish practice of self-governing teams • Signs of existing structures and routines supporting distributed leadership towards democratic leadership

  19. Conclusions: Cultural and Policy Context and Distributed Leadership Practices In our study, • The macro-tasks of distributed leadership for learning generally translated across borders • Professional training, policy, and professional culture shaped the enactment of micro-tasks • Principals engage in leadership tasks to build a strong shared vision, consistent with U.S. policy and training in preparation programs • Socially distributed leadership emerged as strong in the DK professional culture of democratic participation in school decision-making • We anticipate that policy borrowing will increase enactment of certain micro-tasks over time

  20. Distributed and Democratic Leadership • Our study uses Spillane’s definition of distributed leadership as an analytic lens to understand how leadership takes place in organizations • The comparative data suggest that school types may emerge in the analysis of distributed leadership in schools, including democratic participation models that emphasize socially distributed leadership (DK) • Distributed leadership does not imply that formal leadership is unimportant; another school type featured principals enactment of leadership tasks to create structures and routines that engage teacher collaboration around teaching and learning (US)

  21. Implications for Distributed Leadership

  22. Questions or Comments?

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