Defining the Research Question The research question I have created for my capstone is: how can distributed leadership create a bridge between formal and informal leaders? It is no secret that a gap exists between the leadership team and the rest of the staff in schools today. My question aims to go beyond the perplexing hierarchical culture that has traditionally existed by exploring and suggesting the distributed leadership approach. I have created a question that reflects my personal struggle and professional experience as an informal leader in education, and the limitations and opportunities that I have encountered as a result. I address what I believe to be the core problem of educational leadership by recognizing the need for vulnerability, trust, and capacity building within the leader. With these skills, the leadership team can then identify and encourage the strengths of others to work more collaboratively toward improving student learning. I believe that distributed leadership can be the driving factor which can allow the above to effectively exist. Three definitions are needed for clarification before proceeding as I refer to different players in the school setting. Firstly, a formal leader is simply a leader in education who holds a formal role or title; examples of a formal leader include principal, vice-principal, department head, and specialty co-ordinators. Secondly, an informal leader refers to any person in education who does not hold a formal title or role, but consistently demonstrates qualities of leadership. Informal leader and teacher-leader are synonymous and, in this paper, will replace the label of follower. When I refer to teacher, I am referring to anyone in an educational setting who engages in direct teaching and learning opportunities with students. Please note that it is not my intention to suggest that everyone needs to demonstrate key leadership capacities in education at all times, but
Defining the Research Question The research question I have created for my capstone is: how can distributed leadership create a bridge between formal and informal leaders? It is no secret that a gap exists between the leadership team and the rest of the staff in schools today. My question aims to go beyond the perplexing hierarchical culture that has traditionally existed by exploring and suggesting the distributed leadership approach. I have created a question that reflects my personal struggle and professional experience as an informal leader in education, and the limitations and opportunities that I have encountered as a result. I address what I believe to be the core problem of educational leadership by recognizing the need for vulnerability, trust, and capacity building within the leader. With these skills, the leadership team can then identify and encourage the strengths of others to work more collaboratively toward improving student learning. I believe that distributed leadership can be the driving factor which can allow the above to effectively exist. Three definitions are needed for clarification before proceeding as I refer to different players in the school setting. Firstly, a formal leader is simply a leader in education who holds a formal role or title; examples of a formal leader include principal, vice-principal, department head, and specialty co-ordinators. Secondly, an informal leader refers to any person in education who does not hold a formal title or role, but consistently demonstrates qualities of leadership. Informal leader and teacher-leader are synonymous and, in this paper, will replace the label of follower. When I refer to teacher, I am referring to anyone in an educational setting who engages in direct teaching and learning opportunities with students. Please note that it is not my intention to suggest that everyone needs to demonstrate key leadership capacities in education at all times, but
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