Transcending Tensions of the School System with Distributed Leadership: Lessons from a Change Laboratory Intervention
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| Title: | Transcending Tensions of the School System with Distributed Leadership: Lessons from a Change Laboratory Intervention |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Sakari Hyrkkö (ORCID |
| Source: | International Journal of Educational Management. 2025 39(6):1531-1546. |
| Availability: | Emerald Publishing Limited. Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley, West Yorkshire, BD16 1WA, UK. Tel: +44-1274-777700; Fax: +44-1274-785201; e-mail: emerald@emeraldinsight.com; Web site: http://www.emerald.com/insight |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 16 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Elementary Education |
| Descriptors: | Participative Decision Making, Foreign Countries, Educational Change, Intervention, Laboratory Schools, Principals, Elementary School Teachers, Leadership |
| Geographic Terms: | Finland |
| DOI: | 10.1108/IJEM-10-2024-0626 |
| ISSN: | 0951-354X 1758-6518 |
| Abstract: | Purpose: Our study aims to explore distributed leadership as a concept emerging from the developmental efforts of a Finnish teacher training school community to transform their activity to transcend contradictions of the Finnish school system. Our study increases understanding of distributed leadership as a practice-embedded, inherently contradictory functional concept. Design/methodology/approach: We employ the Change Laboratory intervention method, based on cultural-historical activity theory and the theory of expansive learning. In the intervention, teachers and the principal of the school created a new teamwork and leadership model based on a locally formulated concept of distributed leadership. Findings: Through the expansive learning process that took place in the intervention, a local concept of distributed leadership emerged through the participants' efforts to resolve the contradictions. The concept was then modeled into a new mode of activity, which mediated the school community's practice renewal, especially regarding teamwork and leadership practices. Originality/value: Our study offers an alternative, dialectical path for conceptualizing distributed leadership. Instead of empirical classifications, distributed leadership is approached as a concept arising from the tensions of real-life practices but also containing the seeds of transformation to transcend the tensions. Implications for educational change efforts are discussed. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1492235 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Purpose: Our study aims to explore distributed leadership as a concept emerging from the developmental efforts of a Finnish teacher training school community to transform their activity to transcend contradictions of the Finnish school system. Our study increases understanding of distributed leadership as a practice-embedded, inherently contradictory functional concept. Design/methodology/approach: We employ the Change Laboratory intervention method, based on cultural-historical activity theory and the theory of expansive learning. In the intervention, teachers and the principal of the school created a new teamwork and leadership model based on a locally formulated concept of distributed leadership. Findings: Through the expansive learning process that took place in the intervention, a local concept of distributed leadership emerged through the participants' efforts to resolve the contradictions. The concept was then modeled into a new mode of activity, which mediated the school community's practice renewal, especially regarding teamwork and leadership practices. Originality/value: Our study offers an alternative, dialectical path for conceptualizing distributed leadership. Instead of empirical classifications, distributed leadership is approached as a concept arising from the tensions of real-life practices but also containing the seeds of transformation to transcend the tensions. Implications for educational change efforts are discussed. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0951-354X 1758-6518 |
| DOI: | 10.1108/IJEM-10-2024-0626 |
