Abstract
The research examines distributed leadership in the context of educational institutions,
emphasising its importance, application and results. Shared decision-making,
teamwork and empowerment among different stakeholders within a school community
are characteristics of distributed leadership. This qualitative study explores how
distributed leadership models might improve student results, promote a collaborative
culture and expand professional development opportunities for educators and school
management teams by drawing on recent literature and research. Semi-structured
interviews were used to ascertain the views of primary school principals from five
quintile 3 schools in Daveyton on how distributed leadership influences academic
performance. The findings show that the principals had positive views on distributed
leadership and that it positively affected academic performance. Recommendations
are that schools should foster an organisational culture that is more inclusive and
flexible, enabling all members to participate in efforts to improve the school by adopting
distributed leadership methods and strategies.
Keywords: academic improvement, distributed leadership, empowerment,
collaboration, inclusive flexibility