Fostering department chair instructional leadership capacity: laying the groundwork for distributed instructional leadership

Abstract

In this article, I provide findings from a multisite case study of three urban high schools. In each of the schools, principals endeavoured to foster the capabilities of their department chairs to enhance school-wide instructional capacity and increase student achievement. Data were gathered from interviews, participant observations and document analyses during a two-year Leadership for Learning grant funded by the Wallace Foundation. The findings highlight the critical role the principals played in cultivating a shared understanding of the need for change; engaging department chairs in authentic instructional leadership initiatives; and providing the ongoing support, resources and commitment necessary for the chairs to enhance their instructional leadership capacities. I conclude the article with implications for research and practice.

Notes

1. For the purposes of this article, I use the term ‘distributed’ or ‘distributive’ in the same spirit as Harris et al. (2007: 338) who suggested distributed leadership has become a ‘convenient way of labeling all forms of shared leadership activity’. Other terms commonly used to describe these activities include such descriptors as collaborative, collective, democratic, participative, shared and distributed instructional leadership.