Abstract
This study investigates the nexus between school poverty and distributed leadership. Drawing data from Soweto township (more specifically, six poor schools in this township) as the research site, this study recognises the potential vicious cycle between poverty in neighbourhood and poverty in schools, the importance of leadership in assisting poor students to rise above their circumstances, and especially the potential of distributed leadership in this. Using distributed leadership as the theoretical framework, this study contributes to the literature not only in terms of the gap of applying distributed leadership to poverty, the limited application of distributed leadership for stakeholder engagement beyond schools, but also provides a critical analysis of different ways of distribution. Guided by the constructivism paradigm and multiple case studies design, I generated qualitative interview data to answer my research questions on the understanding, relevance and application of distributed leadership to mitigate poverty-related challenges in selected secondary schools in Soweto township.
The findings underscore the significant poverty-related challenges faced by poor schools in the township. It confirms and highlights the relevance and potential of distributed leadership in tackling these challenges, and records numerous examples where internal and external stakeholders collaborate and tackle this challenge. However, this study also uncovers a number of matters of concern. 1) Schools seem to be more preoccupied with tangible challenges; 2) Despite normative agreement for the relevance and benefit of distributed leadership, a more nuanced understanding is lacking. This particular relates to inadequate differentiation of distributing tasks and power. 3) Schools do not seem to be taking sufficient ownership and initiatives to reach out to external stakeholders, despite the great willingness and readiness expressed by the external stakeholders. The study concludes by providing concrete recommendations arising from the study findings.