Bradley-Levine reported in her article how she created an opportunity to explore research data with the aim of examining the degree to which New Tech schools were democratic in the sense conceptualized by the notion of holistic democracy. My response is in three parts. The first sets out my understanding of the significance of the model of…

This article argues that while notions of collective leadership, such as distributed or shared, are nominally more inclusive, barriers to inclusive ways of thinking about and relating to one another will be multi-faceted (past and present) and formidable to change. This argument emanates from a critical review of research literature and an…

The Coalition Government, building on the foundations laid by its Labour predecessor, aims to dismantle the local authority system and with it what remains of the accountability of schools to local elected government. In this article, a response to Stewart Ranson's in a recent issue of "FORUM," the author examines his claims for the…

In this article we present findings from research in 12 UK universities that sought to capture a range of perspectives on "distributed leadership" and reveal common and competing experiences within and between institutions. From analysis of findings we identified two principle approaches to the distribution of leadership:…

There is an increasing emphasis on seeking and using the views of children and young people in research, evaluation and consultation. This question was at the centre of a day-long event of presentations and workshops organized by the National Foundation for Education Research in November 2007. Key objectives for the workshop included. (1) Review…

Notions of distributed leadership and professional learning communities are bedfellows in the drive to school improvement. However, these ideas of sharing leadership and mutual learning as a community are not introduced and developed in a neutral context. Power relationships, priorities and purposes are constructed in certain ways within the…

An alternative conceptual framework to the traditional hierarchical bureaucratic picture of organizations is the "organized anarchy." How collective decisions are made, what university administrators can do to influence the input, process, and outcome of anarchic decision making, and points of leverage are discussed. (Author/MLW)

I reflect on the preceding five contributions in this issue by focusing on the power dimensions of participation. I emphasize how power underlies and frames not only the activities and management of participatory development, but also our own personal/institutional involvement as development researchers and workers. I end with some thoughts on…

The literature suggests collaborative planning is purely egalitarian, but this article identifies a form called "dialectical collaboration" providing situationally determined variations in the locus of control. One district's experience planning an administrators' inservice program illustrates dialectical collaboration. The authors urge…

Asserts that organizations do not have wills of their own but are only groups of individuals acting in concert. Argues that trying to run an organization by consensus results in the loss of accountability and merely relocates conflict without eliminating it. Urges adopting leadership by consent in educational organizations. (PGD)

Leadership styles change over time and with individuals. The relationship between presidential style and effect is explored. The essay suggests that crisis and change do not lend themselves to extensive collaboration and planning, but that to ignore the traditions of faculty input threatens the ability of an institution to move forward.…

Discusses "partnerships" in child protection as they relate to the families of children subject to these services. Suggests that parents are ignored or deliberately excluded from the process, leading to "learned helplessness." Claims that good intentions of professionals are necessary but insufficient for partnership, which can…

At a time when collaborative leadership is much heralded in American institutional life as the antidote to discontent with power structures, colleges and universities have illustrated that shared governance is not inherently collaborative. The sense of common cause on campus should come from a shared knowledge base, concern with external…

While history helps to trace the development of the American public school as a bureaucratic institution and the role of teachers within that institution, a more sociological view helps to clarify the authority relationships within the school and the teacher's role within that structure. It is the teacher's willingness to claim autonomy based…

Chapter 6 in a volume on school leadership, this chapter makes a case for the use of participative decision-making (PDM) at the school-site level, outlines guidelines for its implementation, and describes the experiences of some schools with PDM systems. It begins by citing research indicating the advantages of PDM, including better decisions,…