Abstract
Philip Woods and Amanda Roberts offer a valuable exploration of how leadership that is based on a deep commitment to social justice can improve the experiences of school children as well as those who are employed to support their development. It productively focuses on two key questions that all school communities should reflect upon: (1) what is leadership? and (2) what should leadership be? In response to these questions, collaborative leadership is offered as an ‘alternative vision’ to a top-down approach.
This book is neatly divided into 10 accessible chapters. In its first chapter, a concise overview of the book’s aspirations is outlined, and there is a critical exploration of hierarchical and democratic leadership styles. Subsequently, non-hierarchal management, which has a commitment to democratic values and practices, is called for. Woods and Roberts do however acknowledge that, even when there is a strong organisational belief in the value of such leadership, traditional hierarchies are likely to continue to exist unless substantive whole school change takes place. This note of caution is extremely welcome as it flags up the scale of the change that schools must go through to establish management that is fully democratic. They explain how: Heroic leadership has a long history. In pre-modern times, people tended to see the world as fixed according to a necessary, and rightful, hierarchy of authority – such as God, then King, then nobility and, finally, people. (Woods, 2018, p. 4)
Woods and Roberts present a cogent challenge to fashionable policy discourses which reflect these cultural beliefs. In doing so, they contest the assumption that ‘great’ school leaders who operate within top-down management structures are best placed to inspire educational improvement.
In its second chapter, this book provides an initial and informative examination of what collaborative ‘values-based leadership’ might look like. Socially just ethical orientations are regarded as vitally important to allowing productive collaborative leadership. As part of this framework, a broad view of education’s purpose is recommended. This stance is refreshing at a time when education’s value is increasingly being measured in terms of its economic impact.
The book’s second and third chapters provide an extremely helpful analysis of the benefits and limitations of distributive forms of leadership. This accessible appraisal is useful in setting the scene for future chapters. From a critical review of previous academic research into distributive leadership within schools, three main advantages are identified: improved learning opportunities, heightened levels of innovation and effective promotion of global democratic citizenship. These outcomes would seem to be beneficial for schools and the communities to which they belong. An expansion of responsibility sharing, which includes all levels of staff, is viewed as being a productive professional development activity. Innovation is also encouraged by enhancing professional autonomy, the inclusion of varied voices and increased levels of co-operation. Woods and Roberts (2018) underline the need for schools to create the conditions for innovation when they explain: Schools are expected to be innovative as organisations and to educate students, so they will become the creators and innovators of the future. Promoting creativity and innovation is a driving aim on the policy agendas of nations and global bodies. (p. 21)
While acknowledging the variations in the findings of previous academic studies, a case is presented that suggests collaborative management can boost children’s attainment levels. Moreover, through participation in collaborative leadership, children can learn democratic citizenship. There is, however, a recognition of the disadvantages of distributive leadership. These are primarily identified as being connected to a lack of a clear definition, the possibility that when individuals are given more power they will use it for their own purposes and concerns that the approach can create inefficient practices.
Chapters 4 and 5 offer further thought-provoking discussion of the conditions that are required for collaborative leadership. The first of these chapters presents an insightful overview of the importance that power and agency can have on how schools are led. Intentionality and emergence are unpacked as part of this analysis. Chapter 5 offers an interesting and compelling argument that a ‘philosophy of co-development’ is central to the pursuit of value-driven collaborative management. Importantly, it is argued that the embedding of such a philosophy sponsors reflective practices: The integration of a philosophy of co-development into leadership builds in a commitment to a specific set of values and offers a challenging framework to aid critical reflexivity in and on leadership practice. (Woods, p. 72)
The sixth and seventh chapters of this text examine additional ways in which school leadership and learning can constructively combine to promote progressive outcomes. Good leadership is viewed as a form of collective learning. The benefits of collaborative professional learning through shared leadership activity are very well made here. Chapter 7 of this book is likely to be of special interest to existing school leaders, as it identifies the day-to-day operations that are needed to facilitate collaborative and reciprocal school leadership. In this discussion, it is particularly uplifting to see a strong emphasis being placed on the vital role that all members of a school community must play in management as co-learning. Woods and Roberts suggest that this scenario can be encouraged through shared enquiry and problem-solving. They maintain that The learning model of leadership can be operationalised through shared processes of collaborative enquiry. Collaborative leadership learning groups (CLLGs) are one approach to facilitating and learning about collaboration and shared leadership practices. (Woods, 2018, p. 90)
In Chapter 8, a blueprint for organisational change is described. Here, there is an emphasis on enablement through equitable institutional architecture and the formation of a participatory culture. Democratic environments are portrayed as being essential to produce positive thinking and when changing how individuals view their roles. These are deemed to be fundamental to ‘critical reflexivity and pro-active agency’.
In the next couple of chapters, further detail is offered on the importance of widespread and whole school change. Such change is neatly characterised as requiring a clarification of values, capability nurturing, a reconfiguration of leadership and the construction of the self as shared process. The hierarchal notion of delegation is questioned, and there is also a further plea for those in ‘non-positional and positional leadership roles’ to engage in equitable and shared activities.
The concluding chapter of this book synthesises the arguments and views that are discussed in the previous 10 chapters. As this constructive and useful summary progresses, a series of concise questions are posed. These endeavour to stimulate a dialogue between those whose aim is to embed collaborative leadership within their schools. They are practical aids that have the capacity to generate deep reflection about what a journey to collaborative leadership might incorporate.
Collaborative School Leadership is a very clearly written text that offers important insights into how leadership can be made democratic and co-operative. The reflections and suggestions that it offers are likely to be of interest to academics, school leaders and policy-makers. This book is certainly a valuable addition to the academic literature on school improvement and management.