Leading the school change: the relationships between distributed leadership, resistance to change, and pedagogical practices

ABSTRACT

In recent years there has been growing need to adopt pedagogical changes and design new learning environments. A sustainable school change is challenging to achieve and depends on a variety of factors. This study aimed to explore the factors that predict the application of best pedagogical practices by focusing on the relationship between distributed leadership, the level of assimilation of the pedagogical school vision, and the variables that moderate this relationship. A questionnaire was completed by 221 teachers from ten schools undergoing pedagogical change. A significant positive correlation was found between distributed leadership and the level of assimilation of the pedagogical school vision. Three sub-dimensions moderated this relationship significantly. Extensive application of formative assessment and inquiry learning by teachers strengthened the relationship; personal characteristics related to resistance to change demonstrated in short-term discomfort weakened it. The results contribute to an understanding of the process of leading a school change. The research demonstrates an important new methodological tool to assess the application of best pedagogical practices, which can contribute to research linking organizational, personal, and pedagogical characteristics in educational change.

KEYWORDS:

• Educational change
• distributed leadership
• resistance to change
• school vision
• best pedagogical practices
• formative assessment
• inquiry learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).