Shared Leadership and Students’ Performance in Secondary Schools

Abstract

Many institutions of our society are passing through a challenging phase of handling leadership. This is quite complex in schools, the way students are developed will determine the kind of society we shall have in future. The principal of a school has an important role in shaping the destiny of the school. As the administrative and academic head, principal has a unique leadership role which can be immensely challenging and highly rewarding, at the same time. “State and federal requirements to increase student learning, necessitate a shift in leadership, from managing orderly environments in which teachers work autonomously in their classrooms to one in which administrators, teachers, and others share leadership roles and responsibilities for student learning. Research and best practice indicate the value of collaborating on shared vision, goals, and work needed to ensure that every student learns at high levels” (Sanders and Kearney 2008). The paper examines briefly what is leadership; how sharing school leadership can improve students’ achievement hence help the teachers and the principal to facilitate and appreciate the role of shared leadership. This paper will also seek to examine how shared leadership is facilitated by use of teams, strategies of facilitating shared leadership and collaboration; the role of the principal in student achievement and motivation of teams

Keywords: shared leadership, students’ performance, motivation, teams