gail dyer

Shared Leadership is central to all that is happening in our school. Sure the Principal, as line manager, has to accept responsibility for all that occurs in the school;however, if the Principal can learn to let go and work with the strengths of those about them then the working/learning environment becomes its own powerful model for education into the future.

How does one let go and share leadership? Much the same as a teacher in the classroom, take a deep breath look about you, look, listen, create structures and work with the enhancers to create a vision and then work to co construct it.

The following things have underpinned the sharing of leadership in our school:

1. knowing the staff, recognising their strengths and encouraging them to lead at appropriate times, building on these strengths
2. developing structures which encourage participation in the creation of our school learning community
3. symbolising shared leadership on a daily basis
4. utilising expertise and experience of staff, students and parents as resources
5. involving everyone in leadership by encouraging collaborative patterns of work and activity
6. developing our vision and direction as a whole learning community
7. Constant evaluation and critical reflection upon practice.