Management Practices in Distributed Leadership: Creating Opportunities for Teacher Professional Development for School Improvement. A Case Study in the Municipality of Colina, Chile

In this case study I propose to detail the concept of distributed leadership as a practice to improve the efficiency of schools focusing on the quality of education. The study will approach the concept of distributed leadership from perspective of the principals and leading teachers, in the context of public schools in Colina city of Chile. Distributed leadership in the right conditions can contribute positively to the transformation and improvement of public schools (Harris & DeFlaminis, 2016), since instead of a single person, a group of people can execute all the essential management functions collectively. The interception of Distributed Leadership and the Theory of Social Practices has helped to reinforce the idea that leadership is not a psychological aspect that only some people may have, but it is a resource that arises in a situation when it is needed and that anyone can execute it, regardless of their position. One of the leadership practices of school principal’s is the creation of professional development opportunities for teachers, particularly for those who are considered as leaders among their peers. In this study, they are called “leader teachers” (Berg, Carver & Mangin, 2014; Teacher Leadership Exploratory Consortium, 2011). The general objectives established for this case study were 1) to interpret directive practices in creating professional development opportunities for exercising the leadership of teachers from a distributed perspective for the improvement of schools and 2) to relate the perception of leader teachers that have professional development opportunities in order to exercise leadership granted by the school principals. To achieve the objectives, I determined the elements that make up the distributed leadership practices in the interactions that school principals and leader teachers have in the public schools in Colina city (Chile) context. Then, I analyzed how the school principals support the professional development of teachers in exercising teacher leadership. Finally, I analyzed the evaluations that school principals and leader teachers have in promoting trust and collaborative work for the distribution of leadership.