The shifting terrain of leadership and management
2.5 Gaps in the leadership and management literature
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theoretical aspects developed by academics, whilst school managers engage in the practical aspects.
In one of the few papers that theorises leadership, Lingard and Christie (2003) used concepts offered by Bourdieu. According to Lingard and Christie (2003), Spillane, Diamond, Burch, Hullet, Jita and Zoltens (2002) provide an account of distributed leadership that is central to instructional (curriculum) leadership. Spillane et al’s (2002) version of distributed leadership is underpinned by two theoretical perspectives: activity theory; and situated cognition. This implies that there is a concern for how leadership is constituted in the school, the actions of leaders, and the interaction between leaders at all levels in the organisation. From the above discussion, the theoretical perspective purported by Spillane et al (2002) is a useful one as it presents leadership, as, not the sole responsibility of the principal, but as spread over different individuals at various levels in the organisation. Leadership is stretched over multiple roles and situations and is invested in people and situations. This situated aspect of leadership considers the socio-political-cultural context as an important element of the practice of leadership (Lingard and Christie, 2003, p. 17).
However, Hartley (2007) has found that the analysis presented by Spillane et al (2002) does not consider context, power relations and how leadership is distributed. Hartley (2007) purports to a view of leadership where the key idea is “conceptual elasticity” allowing for a range of concepts to be applicable to a variety of situations in empirical research. This study explored the relationship between power and leadership and extended Hartley’s argument to also suggest that the leaders’ subjectivity is a significant factor in how power is exercised through shared leadership.
2.5.2 African perspectives on leadership and management
Bolden and Kirk, in commenting on the limits of western theories of leadership and management, draw attention to limited theorizing in the African context:
A number of authors (e.g. Blunt and Jones, 1997; Wheatley, 2001; Jackson, 2004) have highlighted the manner in which Western management and leadership theory may represent a new form of colonialism - enforcing and reinforcing ways of thinking and
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acting that are rooted in North American and European ideologies. By doing this, there is a tendency to play down the importance of indigenous knowledge, values and behaviours, assuming instead a linear progression from the “developing” to the “developed” and/or the
“traditional” to the “modern”. Such an approach to leadership and management theory, however, is not only pejorative (classifying non-western approaches as “under-developed”) but also obstructive to the emergence of more constructive theory, practice and policy (2005, p. 2).
Jackson (2002; 2004) raises similar arguments noting the lack of proper theorising in leadership research in Africa concluding what little there is firmly “entrenched within the developed- developing world paradigm which mitigates against more constructive theorising and conceptual development” (Jackson, 2002 ,p. 2). Jackson’s (2004) study of 15 Sub-Saharan countries indicates that African managers enact humanistic management practice and show considerable skills in managing cultural diversity and establishing multiple stakeholder relationships.
2.5.3 Leadership practice
Little is known about which types of leadership practice bring about meaningful change and development in organisations despite a plethora of leadership research in the field (Harris, 2006).
Part of the reason for “such gaps in knowledge can be explained by the preoccupation in the field with the styles, characteristics and traits of individual leaders” (Harris, 2006, p. 15). In their extensive review of leadership literature, Hallinger and Heck (1998) suggest that most accounts of school leadership focus on the people and the systems and pay little attention to the practice of leadership and the actions of the various leaders. In this study, I explored the practice of leadership and leadership action through the lens of power and subjectivity. Harris, (2006) also makes the point that relatively few studies delve into the ways in which leadership practices in schools are constructed, shared and negotiated. Spillane et al (2001 cited in Shield, 2006, p. 72) note that:
While it is generally acknowledged that where there are good schools there are good leaders, it has been notoriously difficult to construct an account of school leadership, grounded in everyday practice. We know relatively little about the how of school leadership.
Through an ethnographic approach this study has grounded school leadership in everyday practice of leaders and stakeholders. Using interactions as a unit of analysis grounds this study firmly in practice.
34 2.6 Conclusion
This review has pointed to a number of issues which are key to understanding what the leadership discourses in the school setting are and what the roles of the various players in the field of educational leadership and management are. Firstly, authority and political legitimacy adds clout to the exercise of influence by leadership. This is when leadership at school level will have its greatest effect on school change. Where leadership legitimacy is contested in the school and community structures, then school leadership has little effect on the school and system reform.
Secondly, how the school performs in terms of learner achievement is significant. Day (2005) states that schools are in constant demand to meet a set of externally set, monitored and evaluated, key performance areas and indicators for raising the general level of learning and teaching. The increasing demands set externally results in fragmentation of the system and undermines the schools’ ability to deliver on learner achievement.
Thirdly, although South Africa is in its sixteenth year of democracy, schools are as yet inequitable in resources, funding and capacity (Bloch, 2009). Accountability and performativity are newly emerging and are currently implemented in a weak form in South Africa to be able to bring about any meaningful change.
Finally, Fleish and Christie (2004) argue that apartheid has undermined the principal’s authority and ability to influence the direction of the school by not affording principals control over the school’s finances and budget, including the appointing and dismissal of staff, and powers to make decisions on the curriculum.
In Chapters 3 and 4, I will present the theoretical frameworks that anchored this study.
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