Collaborative Leadership by Maggie

Connection between Collaborative Leadership and Climate of an Organization

mvitale — 2015-04-10 10:09:01 UTC

Maggie Vitale

Dr. Edwards

Drexel University

EDUC 815 ~ 911, Spring 2015

Brief Introduction

mvitale — 2015-04-10 10:10:52 UTC

Effective leadership encompasses many components. An organization is in need of effective leadership for growth and sustainability of success. Collaborative leadership is one leadership style. All members of the organization are involved in the planning and implementation of programs and changes.

Research Questions

mvitale — 2015-04-10 10:10:57 UTC

What are the attributes of collaborative leadership within an organization?
What effect does collaborative leadership have on the climate of an organization?
What effect does collaborative leadership have on initiative "buy in?"

Relevant Terminology

mvitale — 2015-04-10 10:16:54 UTC

Collaboration: the action of working with someone to achieve a specific goal (Merriam-Webster, 2015).
Leadership: the action of leading a group of people or an organization (Merriam-Webster, 2015)
Collaborative leadership: a process in which people with different views and perspectives come together, set aside narrow self-interests, and discuss issues openly and supportively in an attempt to find ways of helping each other solve larger problems or achieve broader goals. (http://www.collaborativeleadership.org/pages/faq.html)

Synonymous with collaborative leadership;

Collective leadership
Co-leadership
Distributive leadership
Distribute cognition
High-involvement leadership
Professional learning communities
Shared leadership
Transformational leadership

Purpose of Literature Review

mvitale — 2015-04-10 10:17:34 UTC

The purpose of this literature review is to create a deeper understanding of what collaborative leadership looks like and how it effects a school or district.

Previous Research and Limitations

mvitale — 2015-04-10 10:18:41 UTC

Professional Learning Communities: various studies covering how PLC's assist with collaboration, initiative support, and climate of the organization.
School Performance: Collaborative leadership can have a positive impact on a student academic performance. However, this is difficult to decipher or prove since there are many factors impact achievement.
Climate ~ Teacher Retention: In various studies, researchers review the causes of teacher retention. Teachers noted the need for a collaborative environment and a supportive environment.
Climate ~ Theater: A collaborative leadership environment was created for a theatrical performance. Following the production, the perception of those involved was a higher-level of ownership over the show, freedom to develop individually, and a feeling of being personally invested.

Moving Forward . . . .

mvitale — 2015-04-10 10:19:00 UTC

Continue to look for research connecting collaborative leadership with the perceptions of the climate of K-12 public education.
Conduct research through the gathering of perceptual data using surveys and interviews on the effect of a collaborative leadership style with the climate of a school setting.

Historical Background

mvitale — 2015-04-10 10:21:30 UTC

Interest in Collaborative Leadership Style increases over the decades

1950's: First significant research and scholarly writing regarding collaborative leadership
1980's: Increased scholarly writing about transformational leadership concerning distributed cognition and activity theory.
1990's: Writing and research conducted on high-involvement leadership increased three times over.
2000's Scholarly writing about collaborative / distributive leadership increased more than five times the rate.

(Bolden, 2011)

Theories and Concepts

mvitale — 2015-04-10 10:21:44 UTC

Theory U: A leader must have an open heart, mind, and will to listen to ideas and thoughts of those within the organization. A leader must be aware of his own Voices of Fear, Judgement and Cynicism that could impact decision making.
Four levels of listening: downloading, factual, empathic, generative
Ten Faces of Innovation: Collaborator, focus on collaborating within and outside of the organization for fresh ideas and insight.
Creative Leadership: Focus on how Exploring Ideas and Evaluative Thinking processes are collaborative in nature

Synthesis: Gaps in Literature

mvitale — 2015-04-15 20:10:11 UTC

There does not appear to be any literature or research the directly correlates collaborative leadership with climate of a K-12 public education setting. Much of the research is based upon student achievement correlations. I propose to investigate the perceptual effects of a collaborative environment on the climate of the school.

Signifiance

mvitale — 2015-04-15 20:12:28 UTC

A collaborative work environment in theory allows all stakeholders to not only be involved in the decision-making process, but also better understand how decisions are made. If it can be proven that a collaborative leadership style promotes a positive climate amongst all employees, leaders could then choose to initiate this style. This information could assist leaders in any organization by distributing the leadership and improving their current climate. With the accountability placed on education within the past few decades, leaders must ensure they are incorporating the most influential and effective leadership models.

Literature Map

mvitale — 2015-04-21 11:26:28 UTC

Literature Review with Annotated Bibliography

mvitale — 2015-05-14 16:36:09 UTC

mvitale — 2015-05-27 10:54:33 UTC

http://www.clker.com/clipart-collaboration-toolbox.html