Sharing leadership of schools through teamwork: A justifiable Risk

The principle that teachers should treat all children fairly, nurture individuals according to their different intellectual and emotional needs, and provide a welcoming and secure environment for learning would probably find universal acceptance among educators. But what principles should apply to working relationships among school staff? Does a defen-sible approach to school leadership imply shared leadership and, if so, which aspects of leadership should be shared, by whom, with whom, how equally, and under what circum-stances? The purpose of this article is to develop the normative argument that school leadership should ideally be extensively shared but, because school leaders do not live in an ideal world, the extent of sharing which is justifiable in practice depends on empirical factors. In other words, championing of shared leadership draws on principles which are contin-gent on the situation, not absolute. Specifically, I wish to explore empirical factors connected with the contexts of schools and consequent risks—especially for head-teachers—that may inhere in their endeavour to share leadership. To support this con-tention, findings will be discussed from research into senior or school management team