Abstract
Principals are being encouraged to distribute leadership to increase schools’ organizational capacities, and enhance student growth and learning. Extant research on distributed leadership practices provides an emerging basis for adopting such approaches. Yet, relatively less attention has been paid to examining the principal’s role in fostering the leadership capacities of others to create the capacity for distributed leadership. In this article, we examine the specific practices of six high school principals who fostered the leadership capacities of 18 other leaders in their respective schools. Our findings illustrate the key steps these principals undertook in identifying potential leaders, creating leadership opportunities for them, facilitating their role transitions and providing them with continuous support.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Hans W. Klar
Hans W. Klar, Eugene T. Moore School of Education, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA. Email: [email protected]. His research is focused on understanding the principal’s role in leading change and fostering leadership capacity in schools.
Kristin Shawn Huggins
Kristin Shawn Huggins, Educational Leadership, Sport Studies, and Educational/Counseling Psychology Department, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, USA. Email: [email protected]. Her research is focused on understanding instructional leadership learning in principals, instructional coaches, and teacher leaders.
Hattie L. Hammonds
Hattie L. Hammonds, Eugene T. Moore School of Education, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA. Email: [email protected]. Her research is focused on early college high schools and principal leadership.
Frederick C. Buskey
Frederick C. Buskey, Eugene T. Moore School of Education, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA. Email: [email protected]. His research is focused on developing courageous ethical leadership through the development of innovative leadership preparation programs.