Sources of Leadership for Inclusive Education: Creating Schools for All Children

Abstract

This study examined leadership for inclusion in three schools using Heller and Fire-stone’s leadership function theory. Data sources included interviews with school personnel and parents, and observations of inclusion meetings. Analysis revealed not only that all functions were carried out by multiple individuals in different roles, but also that people with and without formal authority made unique contributions to the success of the program. Additionally, redundant function performance was associated with institutionalization.

The Search for Successful Inclusion

“…Often it is the principal who is responsible for carrying out change, and if he or she has the will and belief in making the change towards inclusion, it will have a strong positive labelling effect. This relationship has been reported in previous research (Mayrowetz and Weinstein, 1999;Karlsudd, 2007).…”

Distributed Leadership

“…While functionalist writers would give recognition that 'others' other than the designated leader do leadership, Gronn goes further and examines whether leadership has lost its potency by drawing on the work of Kerr and Jermier (1978) to examine substitutes for leadership. He notes that not all activity has a causal link to the leader because organizational members have their own selfmotivation, they develop autonomous group norms and the routine nature of much work means that leadership is not needed (see also Mayrowetz and Weinstein [1999] about the institutionalization of leadership).…”

Distributed Leadership as Work Redesign: Retrofitting the Job Characteristics Model

“…For example, in one school district that practiced distributed leadership for an inclusion reform, only a special education supervisor had the positional power to create a special line item in the budget that captured funds saved from eliminating out-ofdistrict special education placements to be applied toward teacher aides and other forms of in-class support for students with special needs (Mayrowetz & Weinstein, 1999). In short, though distributed leadership is meant to flatten the hierarchy, existing organizational structures will not completely disappear and some of the unique job responsibilities that derive from hierarchy will still impact the implementation of this reform.…”

“…have been empirically tested in the implementation of a social problem solving reform (Heller & Firestone, 1995) and the inclusion of students with special needs in general education classrooms (Mayrowetz & Weinstein, 1999). Spillane and his colleagues (2004) recognized "macrofunctions" similar to these, as a crucial framework for understanding the practice of leadership in schools.…”