This article provides a meta-analysis of research conducted on distributed leadership from 2002 to 2013. It continues the review of distributed leadership commissioned by the English National College for School Leadership (NCSL) (Distributed Leadership: A Desk Study, Bennett et al., 2003), which identified two gaps in the research during the 1996–2002 period. The review found that the studies had been unable to conceptualise distributed leadership or empirically outline its application. The two research gaps identified by Bennett et al. (2003) constitute the focus of the present review, which attempts to determine whether recent research has been able to fill these gaps. Based on the findings of the present meta-analysis, the authors recommend directions for future studies on distributed leadership.
*AndersonSMooreSSunJ (2009) Positioning the principal in patterns of school leadership distribution. In: LeithwoodKMascallBStraussT (eds) Distributed Leadership According to the Evidence. New York: Routledge, pp.111–136.
2.
*AngellePS (2010) An organizational perspective of distributed leadership: A portrait of a middle school. RMLE Online: Research in Middle Level Education33(5): 1–16.
3.
ArcherM (1995) Realist Social Theory: The Morphogenetic Approach. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
4.
*Ban Al-AniAHBlighMC (2011) Collaborating with ‘virtual strangers’ towards developing a framework for leadership in distributed teams. Leadership7: 219–249.
5.
BattilanaJ (2006) Agency and institutions: The enabling role of individuals’ social position. Organization12(5): 653–676.
6.
*BennettNWiseCWoodsPA. (2003) Distributed Leadership: A Desk Study. Nottingham: NCSL.
7.
BergerPLLuckmannT (1991) The Social Construction of Reality. Penguin Books: London.
8.
*BoldenR (2011) Distributed leadership in organizations: A review of theory and research. International Journal of Management Reviews13: 251–269.
9.
BurrellGMorganG (1979) Sociological Paradigms and Organizational Analysis: Elements of the Sociology of Corporate Life. London: Heinemann.
10.
*BushT (2013) Distributed leadership: The model of choice in the 21st century. Educational Management Administration & Leadership41(5): 543–544.
11.
*BushTGloverD (2012) Distributed leadership in action: Leading high-performing leadership teams in English schools. School Leadership and Management32(1): 21–36.
12.
CaldwellR (2007) Agency and change: Re-evaluating Foucault’s legacy. Organization14(6): 769–791.
13.
*CamburnERowanBTaylorJE (2003) Distributed leadership in schools: The case of elementary schools adopting comprehensive school reform. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis25: 347–375.
14.
*ChangI (2011) A study of the relationships between distributed leadership, teacher academic optimism and student achievement in Taiwanese elementary schools. School Leadership & Management31(5): 491–515.
15.
CiJ (2011) Evaluating agency: A fundamental question for social and political philosophy. Metaphilosophy42(3): 261–281.
16.
CleggS (2006) The problem of agency in feminism: A critical realist approach. Gender and Education18(3): 309–324.
17.
CollinKPaloniemiSMecklinJ-P (2010) Promoting inter-professional teamwork and learning – The case of a surgical operating theatre. Journal of Education and Work23(1): 43–63.
18.
CollinKVallealaUMHerranenS. (2012) Ways of inter-professional collaboration and learning in emergency work. Studies in Continuing Education34(3): 281–300.
19.
*CoplandMA (2003) Leadership of inquiry: Building and sustaining capacity through school improvement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis25: 375–396.
20.
DaviesB (2000) (In)scribing Body/Landscape Relations. Alta Mira Press: Walnut Creek.
21.
*DayCSammonsPHopkinsD. (2009) The Impact of School Leadership on Pupil Outcomes. London: Final Report DCSF.
22.
*DinhamSAubussonPBradyL (2008) Distributed leadership as a factor in and outcome of teacher action learning. International Electronic Journal for Leadership in Learning12(4): 1–13.
*ElmoreRF (2003) A plea for strong practice. Educational Leadership62(3): 6–10.
25.
EteläpeltoAVähäsantanenKHökkäP. (2013) What is agency? Conceptualizing professional agency at work. Educational Research Review10: 45–65.
26.
*FengDM (2012) 分布式领导之中国意义 [The significance of distributed leadership in China’s context]. Educational Development and Research12: 31–35.
27.
FenwickT (2006) Escaping/becoming subjects: Learning to work the boundaries in a boundaryless work. In: BillettSFenwickTSomervilleM (eds) Work, Subjectivity and Learning. Springer: Dordrecht, pp.21–36.
28.
*FitzgeraldTGunterH (2006) Teacher leadership? A new form of managerialism. New Zealand Journal of Educational Leadership21(2): 44–57.
29.
GronnP (2000) Distributed properties: A new architecture for leadership. Educational Management Administration & Leadership28: 317–338.
30.
*GronnP (2002) Distributed leadership as a unit of analysis. Leadership Quarterly13(4): 423–451.
31.
*GronnP (2003) Leadership: Who needs it?School Leadership and Management23(3): 267–290.
32.
*GronnP (2008) The future of distributed leadership. Journal of Educational Administration46: 141–158.
33.
*GronnP (2009a) Hybrid leadership. In: LeithwoodKMascallBStraussT (eds) Distributed Leadership According to the Evidence. New York: Routledge, pp.17–40.
*GunterHHallDBraggJ (2013) Distributed leadership: A study in knowledge production. Educational Management Administration & Leadership41(5): 555–580.
36.
*HargreavesAFinkD (2008) Distributed leadership: Democracy or delivery?Journal of Educational Administration46: 229–240.
37.
*HarrisA (2004) Distributed leadership for school improvement: Leading or misleading. Educational Management Administration & Leadership32: 11–24.
38.
*HarrisA (2005) Leading or misleading? Distributed leadership and school improvement. Journal of Curriculum Studies37: 255–265.
39.
*HarrisA (2007) Distributed leadership: Conceptual confusion and empirical evidence. International Journal of Leadership in Education10(3): 315–325.
40.
*HarrisA (2008) Distributed leadership: According to the evidence. Journal of Educational Administration46(2): 172–188.
41.
*HarrisA (2009a) Distributed leadership: What we know. In: HarrisA (ed) Distributed Leadership: Different Perspectives. Dordrecht: Springer, pp.11–21.
42.
*HarrisA (2009b) Distributed leadership and knowledge creation. In: LeithwoodKMascallBStraussT (eds) Distributed Leadership According to the Evidence. Abingdon: Routledge, pp.253–266.
43.
*HarrisA (2012) Distributed leadership: Implications for the role of the principal. Journal of Management Development31(1): 7–17.
*HartleyD (2010) Paradigms: How far does research in distributed leadership “stretch”?Educational Management Administration & Leadership38(3): 271–285.
49.
*HeckRHallingerP (2010) Testing a longitudinal model of distributed leadership effects on school improvement. Leadership Quarterly21: 867–885.
50.
*HeikkaJWaniganayakeMHujalaE (2012) Contextualizing distributed leadership within early childhood education: Current understandings, research evidence and future challenges. Educational Management Administration & Leadership41(1): 30–44.
51.
*HulpiaHDevosG (2009) Exploring the link between distributed leadership and job satisfaction of school leaders. Educational Studies35: 153–171.
52.
*HulpiaHDevosGRosseelY (2009a) Development and validation of scores on the distributed leadership inventory. Educational and Psychological Measurement69(6): 1013–1034.
53.
*HulpiaHDevosGRosseelY. (2012) Dimensions of distributed leadership and the impact on teachers’ organizational commitment: A study in secondary education. Journal of Applied Social Psychology42(7): 1745–1784.
54.
*HulpiaHDevosGVan KeerH (2009b) The influence of distributed leadership on teachers’ organizational commitment: A multilevel approach. Journal of Educational Research103(1): 40–52.
55.
JäppinenAKMaunonen-EskelinenI (2012) Organizational transition challenges in the Finnish vocational education – Perspective of distributed pedagogical leadership. Educational Studies38(1): 9–50.
56.
*JäppinenAKSarjaA (2012) Distributed pedagogical leadership and generative dialogue in educational nodes. Management in Education26(2): 64–72.
57.
*JingWL (2010) School leadership in two countries: Shared leadership in American and Chinese high schools. Dissertation, Arizona State University. 1–178.
58.
*JohnsonB (2004) Local school micropolitical agency: An antidote to new managerialism. School Leadership and Management24: 267–286.
59.
*LakomskiG (2008) Functionally adequate but causally idle: W(h)ither distributed leadership?Journal of Educational Administration46: 159–171.
60.
*LawEGaltonMWanS (2010) Distributed curriculum leadership in action: A Hong Kong case study. Educational Management Administration & Leadership38(3): 286–303.
61.
*LeeMHallingerPWalkerA (2012) A distributed perspective on instructional leadership in international baccalaureate (IB) schools. The Journal of Leadership for Effective & Equitable Organizations48(4): 664–698.
*LeithwoodKMascallBStraussT (2009a) Distributed Leadership According to the Evidence. Abingdon: Routledge.
64.
*LeithwoodKMascallBStraussT (2009b) New perspectives on an old idea: A short history of the old idea. In: LeithwoodKMascallBStraussT (eds) Distributed Leadership According to the Evidence. Abingdon: Routledge, pp.1–14.
65.
*LeithwoodKMascallBStraussT. (2007) Distributing leadership to make schools smarter: Taking the ego out of the system. Leadership and Policy Studies6(1): 37–67.
66.
*LockeEA (2003) Leadership: Starting at the top. In: PearceCLCongerJA (eds) Shared Leadership: Reframing the Hows and Whys of Leadership. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage, pp.271–284.
67.
*LumbyJ (2013) Distributed leadership: The uses and abuses of power. Educational Management Administration & Leadership41(5): 581–597.
68.
*MacBeathJ (2005) Leadership as distributed: A matter of practice. School Leadership and Management25(4): 349–366.
69.
*MayrowetzD (2005, 10-1311) Perceptions and interpretations of distributed leadership: Implications for leadership development and school improvement. Nashville, TN: University council on educational administration annual convention.
70.
*MayrowetzD (2008) Making sense of distributed leadership: Exploring the multiple usages of the concept in the field. Educational Administration Quarterly44: 424–435.
71.
*MayrowetzDMurphyJLouisKS. (2009) Conceptualizing distributed leadership as a school reform: Revisiting job redesign theory. In: LeithwoodKMascallBStraussT (eds) Distributed Leadership According to the Evidence. New York: Routledge, pp.167–195.
72.
*MurphyJMayrowetzDSmylieM. (2009) The role of the principal in fostering the development of distributed leadership. School Leadership & Management29(2): 181–214.
73.
*OduroGKT (2004) Distributed leadership in schools. Education Journal80: 23–25.
74.
*OswaldMEngelbrechtP (2013) Leadership in disadvantaged primary schools: Two narratives of contrasting schools. Educational Management Administration & Leadership41(5): 620–639.
75.
*PedersenJYagerSYagerR (2012) Student leadership distribution: Effects of a student-led leadership program on school climate and community. International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation7(2): 1–9.
76.
*PyhältöKPietarinenJSoiniT (2012) Do comprehensive school teachers perceive themselves as active professional agents in school reforms?Journal of Educational Change13: 95–116.
77.
*RobinsonVMJ (2008) Forging the links between distributed leadership and educational outcomes. Journal of Educational Administration46(2): 241–256.
78.
*ScribnerSMPBradley-LevineJ (2010) The meaning(s) of teacher leadership in an urban high school reform. Educational Administration Quarterly46: 491–522.
79.
*ScribnerJSawyerRWatsonS. (2007) Teacher teams and distributed leadership: A study of group discourse and collaboration. Educational Administration Quarterly43(1): 67–100.
80.
*SentočnikSRuparB (2009) School leadership of the future: How the national education institute in Slovenia supported schools to develop distributed leadership practice. European Education41(3): 7–22.
81.
*SpillaneJ (2006) Distributed Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
82.
*SpillaneJCamburnEMParejaAS (2007) Taking a distributed perspective to the school principal’s workday. Leadership and Policy in Schools6(1): 103–125.
83.
*SpillaneJDiamondJJitaL (2003) Leading instruction: The distribution of leadership for instruction. Journal of Curriculum Studies35(5): 533–543.
84.
*SpillaneJHalversonRDiamondJ (2004) Towards a theory of leadership practice: A distributed perspective. Journal of Curriculum Studies36: 3–34.
85.
*SpillaneJHealeyK (2010) Conceptualizing school leadership and management from a distributed perspective. The Elementary School Journal11(2): 253–281.
86.
*StoreyA (2004) The problem of distributed leadership in schools. School Leadership and Management24: 249–265.
87.
*TimperleyHS (2005) Distributed leadership: Developing theory from practice. Journal of Curriculum Studies37(4): 395–420.
88.
*TimperleyHS (2009) Distributing leadership to improve outcomes for students. In: LeithwoodKMascallBStraussT (eds) Distributed Leadership According to the Evidence. Abingdon: Routledge, pp.197–222.
89.
*WallaceM (2002) Modelling distributed leadership and management effectiveness: Primary school senior management teams in England and Wales. School Effectiveness and School Improvement13(2): 163–186.
90.
*WatsonSTScribnerJP (2005, 10-1311) Emergent reciprocal influence: Toward a framework for understanding the distribution of leadership within collaborative school activity. Nashville, TN: University council for educational administration annual convention.
91.
*WatsonSTScribnerJP (2007) Beyond distributed leadership: Collaboration interaction and emergent reciprocal influence. Journal of School Leadership17: 443–468.
92.
*WilliamsCG (2011) Distributed leadership in South African schools: Possibilities and constraints. South African Journal of Education31(2): 190–200.
93.
*WoodsPA (2004) Democratic leadership: Drawing distinctions with distributed leadership. International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice7(1): 3–26.
94.
*WoodsPA (2005) Democratic Leadership in Education. London: Sage.
*WoodsPA (2013) Drivers to holistic democracy: Signs and signals of emergent, democratic self-organising systems. In: WeberSMGöhlichASchröerH. (eds) Organisation und Partizipation: Beiträge der Kommission Organisationspädagogik. Berlin: Springer VS, pp.343–356.
97.
*WoodsPABennettNHarveyJA. (2004) Variabilities and dualities in distributed leadership: Findings from a systematic literature review. Educational Management Administration & Leadership32(4): 439–457.
98.
*WoodsPAWoodsGJ (2013) Deepening distributed leadership: A democratic perspective on power, purpose and the concept of the self. Vodenje v vzgoji in izobraževanju (Leadership in Education)2: 17–40.
99.
*WrightLL (2008) Merits and limitations of distributed leadership: Experiences and understandings of school principals. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy69: 1–33.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
