The Leadership Link: A Hybrid Professional Learning Network for Learning and Teaching Leaders

Abstract

Higher Education is awash with rich research outputs on the topic of Higher Education Leadership, however evidence of implementing recommendations emanating from such research is harder to find. This chapter will describe how a Professional Learning Network (PLN) was conceptualised and designed, utilising a range of collaborative spaces and digital technologies to extract Learning and Teaching Leaders from their operational ‘silos’ and engage them in collaborating and sharing their diverse experiences and wisdom about leadership in a contemporary university. The project aimed to shift Professional Development away from a traditional paradigm of ‘workshop’ delivered by an ‘expert’ and present it as a PLN where participants draw on the wisdom and experience of their peers, support each other to solve complex problems, and explore artefacts on Leadership in Learning and Teaching. The network model extended the concept of a Community of Practice and located it within a multiplatform digital space underpinned by the concept of ‘connectivism’. The role of the author was that of Network Concierge rather than Leader or Facilitator which enabled a distributed leadership model to evolve.