Shared Leadership

Abstract

This chapter makes a contribution to understanding conceptions of leadership and the way a particular version of it can be progressed in schools. The research-informed position about leadership in the PALL Program is based on the notion that leadership work is too much for one person and needs to be the work of many. Across the PALL Projects, it is not just principals who are the leaders in schools. Teachers are also leaders when they share their expertise with one another and provide support for their colleagues. Typically teachers move into the leadership space because they have an interest in quality teaching and see their colleagues as a source of reciprocal learning and support. The strong moral purpose of wanting to make a difference to students and their learning is the catalyst for viewing leadership as a collective responsibility involving teachers, parents and students. Ultimately, we want students to be leaders of their own learning. Case study data from the PALL schools highlight the importance of teachers joining the leadership pool and playing their part in leading learning for school-wide action. The PALL Program design, with its concurrent reading curriculum and leadership focus and associated tasks, helps schools create their own learning pathways. This chapter draws upon case studies to reveal the challenges and opportunities afforded by the sharing of leadership work in order to address the three leadership fundamentals of an agreed moral purpose, and the importance of human agency in working in unique contexts.