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Distributed Leadership

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Second International Handbook of Educational Leadership and Administration

Part of the book series: Springer International Handbooks of Education ((SIHE,volume 8))

Abstract

The first known reference to distributed leadership was in the field of social psychology in the early-1950s. The concept then lay dormant for more than three decades until it surfaced briefly once again in social psychology, and then again in the early-1990s in organisation theory. Awareness of distributed leadership amongst educationalists also dates from about this time. Roughly a decade later, interest in distributed leadership had quickened to the point where at least one national professional association for school administrators had incorporated the concept into its leadership priorities for the new millennium. The association in question, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), was one of two national bodies in the USA, the other being the National Policy Board in Educational Administration (NPBEA), at the forefront of the reform movement during the 1990s to introduce national standards for school leaders. The joint efforts of the CCSSO and the NPBEA finally bore fruit in 1996 when the 24 member states comprising the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) adopted the document Standards for School Leaders. In its statement of priorities for 2000, the fourth of the six undertakings to which the CCSSO committed itself was to ensure that a range of key educational stakeholders have “leaders working effectively in ‘multiple leadership’ or ‘distributed leadership’ teams” (Council of Chief State School Officers, 2000, p. 5).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia

    Peter Gronn

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  1. Peter Gronn
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada

    Kenneth Leithwood

  2. College of Management, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand

    Philip Hallinger

  3. Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA

    Gail C. Furman

  4. Institute of Education, University of London, UK

    Kathryn Riley

  5. Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, UK

    John MacBeath

  6. Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

    Peter Gronn

  7. University of Tasmania, Launceston, Australia

    Bill Mulford

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Gronn, P. (2002). Distributed Leadership. In: Leithwood, K., et al. Second International Handbook of Educational Leadership and Administration. Springer International Handbooks of Education, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0375-9_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0375-9_23

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