Synergies in DL
The aim of this project was to identify a common understanding of how distributed leadership is conceptualised and practised in the Australian higher education sector in learning and teaching. This Australian Learning and Teaching Council funded project commenced in 2009 and was completed in 2011.
The objectives of this project were to:
- identify the synergies between the outcomes of four ALTC Projects funded as Institutional Leadership (Distributed) Grants by the partner institutions;
- develop a Distributed Leadership Matrix (DLM) of contextual conditions and leadership skills needed to achieve an effective distributed leadership process; and
- develop a flexible self-evaluative tool (SET) to encourage and support a distributed leadership approach to learning and teaching improvements.
The project identified four important factors when introducing distributed leadership:
1. a focus on ACTIONS rather than simply processes or structures
2. the design of a REFLECTIVE process to scaffold action through cycles of change as new issues and ideas emerge
3. the development of a dynamic process to ENABLE distributed leadership that goes beyond evaluation
4. recognition of the HYBRID nature of distributed leadership that values working alongside,
rather than replacing, formal leaders.
The final report for Lessons learnt: identifying synergies in distributed leadership projects project can be found here.
