A New Analytical Framework for Leadership Studies in School Counseling: Distributed Leadership

Abstract

Even though school counselors’ leadership has been a buzzword for the last decade, it has not been fully explored and defi ned. In addition to that, since, traditionally, leadership has been perceived as the role of person sole or superhero, it could be confusing to understand how leadership would be possible for school counselors as they don’t hold formal leadership position in the schools’ organizational structure. Besides, traditional frameworks that tend to privilege individual actions of a formal leader are not suffi cient to understand leadership practice of school counsellors’. Those identifi cations are the motivational factors of writing this article. If leadership is one of the fundamental roles of the school counsellors, then there should be an appropriate theoretical framework which helps to analyse their leadership practice in a systematic manner. The main goal of this article is to provide such a leadership framework. This paper offers the idea that distributed leadership is a useful tool to understand school counselors’ leadership effort holistically because this framework calls the unit of analysis not with individual leaders, but their interactions. Trying to understand counselors’ leadership from a distributed perspective might serve to better defi ne “leadership in school counseling” and help to produce solutions to barriers that hinder their leadership efforts

Keywords

• distributed leadership
• leadership in school counseling
• guidance teacher

Okul Psikolojik Danışmasında Liderlik Araştırmaları İçin Yeni Bir Analitik Çerçeve: Dağıtımcı Liderlik

Abstract

Son on yıldır, okul psikolojik danışmasında liderlik kavramı sıkça tartışılan bir konudur. Buna rağmen, okul psikolojik danışmanlarının liderlik rolü yeterince tanımlanmamış ve araştırılmamıştır. Bunun yanı sıra, liderlik, geleneksel olarak, “tek insan” ya da “süper kahraman” rolü gibi algılandığı için, okulun örgütsel yapısı içinde, yönetimsel bir pozisyonda bulunmayan okul psikolojik danışmanlarının liderlik rollerinin nasıl incelenmesi gerektiği akılları karıştırabilmektedir. Ayrıca, geleneksel liderlik kuramları, genellikle tek insan liderliğine odaklandığından, psikolojik danışmanların liderliklerinin analiz edilmesinde kullanılacak uygun bir çerçeve sunmazlar. Bu tespitler, bu makalenin çıkış noktasını oluşturmuştur. Liderlik okul psikolojik danışmanları için temel bir rol ise, bu rolü sistematik bir şekilde irdeyerek, anlaşılır hale getirmeye yardımcı olacak bir analitik çerçeve de olmalıdır. Bu makalenin temel amacı bu tür bir çerçeveyi sunmaktır. Dağıtımcı liderlik (distributed leadership), bu kuramsal çerçeveyi sağlayan bütünsel bir yaklaşımdır çünkü liderliği bireyler üzerinden değil, bireylerin oluşturduğu etkileşimler üzerinden analiz eder. Bu yaklaşımı temel alarak yapılacak çalışmalar, “okul psikolojik danışmasında liderlik” kavramının daha iyi anlaşılmasını ve okul psikolojik danışmanlarının liderlik uygulamalarının önündeki engellerin çözümüne dair politikalar üretilmesini sağlayabilir.

Keywords

• dağıtımcı liderlik
• okul psikolojik danışmasında liderlik
• rehber öğretmen

References

1. Dollarhide, C. T., Gibson, D. M. ve Siginak, A. K. (2008). New counselors’ leadership efforts in school counseling: Themes from a year-long qualitative study. Professional School Counseling, 11(4), 262-271.
2. Elmore, R. (2000). Building a new structure for school leadership. Washington, D.C.: Albert Shanker Institute.
3. Froeschle, J. G. ve Nix, S. (2009). A solution-focused leadership model: Examining perceptions of effective counselor leadership. Journal of School Counseling, 7(5), 1-21.
4. Fulthorp, K. M. (2009). Recognized American School Counselor Association Model Programs: A case study of school counselor leadership. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. University of Southern California, CA.
5. Gronn, P. (2002). Distributed leadership as a unit of analysis. Leadership Quarterly, 13(4), 423-451.
6. Hanson, C. ve Stone, C. (2002). Recruiting leaders to transform school counselling. Theory into Practice, 41(3), 163-168.
7. Harris, A. (2008). Distributed leadership in schools: Developing the leaders of tomorrow. London: Routledge and Falmer Press.
8. House, M. R. ve Sears, S. J. (2002). Preparing school counselors to be leaders and advocates: A critical need in the new millennium. Theory into Practice, 41(3), 154-162. doi:10.1207/s15430421tip4103_3

9. Johnson, S. ve Johnson, C. D. (2003). Results-based guidance: A systems approach to student support programs. Professional School Counseling, 6(3), 180- 184.
10. Janson, C., Stone, C. ve Clark, M. A. (2009). Stretching leadership: A distributed perspective for school counselor leaders. Professional School Counseling, 13, 98-106.
11. Korkut-Owen, F. ve Owen, D. W. (2008). Okul psikolojik danışmanlarının rol ve işlevleri: Yöneticiler ve psikolojik danışmanların görüşleri. Ankara Üniversitesi Eğitim Bilimleri Fakültesi Dergisi, 41(1), 207-221.
12. Köse, A. (2010). Analysis of school counselors’ leadership practices through the lens of distributed leadership Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts.
13. Lambert, L. (2002). A framework for shared leadership. Educational Leadership, 59(8), 37-40.
14. Lewis, R. E. ve Borunda, R. (2006). Lived stories: Participatory leadership in school counseling. Journal of Counseling and Development, 84(4), 406-413.
15. Martin, P. J. (2002). Transforming school counseling: A national perspective. Theory into Practice. 41(3), 148- 153.
16. Mason, E. C. M. ve McMahon, H. G. (2009). Leadership practices of school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 13, 107-115.
17. McBeth, M. E. (2008). The distributed leadership toolbox: Essential practices for successful schools. Thousand Oaks:Corwin Press.
18. Militello, M. ve Janson, C. (2007). Socially focused, situationally driven practice: A study of distributed leadership among school principals and counselors. Journal of School Leadership, 17(4), 409-442.
19. Paisley, P. ve Milsom, A. (2007).Group work as an essential contribution to transforming school counseling. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 32, 9-17.
20. Rost, J. C. (1991). Leadership for the twenty-fi rst century. Westport, CT: Praeger.
21. Sawyer, R. K., Scribner, J. P., Watson, S. T. ve Myers, V. L. (2005). Talking leadership: Conversation analysis and distributed leadership. In W. K. Hoy ve C. G. Miskel (Eds.), Educational leadership and reform (pp. 169- 185). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
22. Sherer, J. Z. (2008, March). Power in distributed leadership: How teacher agency infl uences instructional leadership practice. Paper presented at the meeting of American Educational Research Association. New York.
23. Shillingford, M. (2013). Practical strategies for school counsellor leadership: The leadership challenge model. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 16(4), 497-515. doi:10.1080/13603124.2012.741266
24. Sink, C. A. (2009). School counselors as accountability leaders: Another call for action. Professional School Counseling 13, 68-74.
25. Spillane, J.P., Halverson, R. ve Diamond, J.B. (2001). Investigating school leadership practice: a distributed perspective. Educational Researcher, 30(3), 23-8.
26. Spillane, J. P., Diamond, J. B. ve Jita, L. (2003). Leading instruction: The distribution of leadership for instruction. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 35(5), 533–543.
27. Spillane, J. P. ve Sherer, J. Z. (2004, April). A distributed perspective on school leadership: Leadership practice as stretched over people and place. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, California.
28. Spillane, J. P., Sherer, J. ve Coldren, A. F. (2005). Distributed leadership: Leadership practice and the situation. In W. K. Hoy ve C. G. Miskel (Eds.), Educational leadership and reform (pp. 169-185). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
29. Spillane, J. P. (2006). Distributed leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
30. Spillane, J. P. ve Diamond, J.B, (Eds.). (2007). Distributed leadership in practice. New York: Teachers College Press.
31. Stone, C. B. ve Hanson, C. (2002). Selection of school counselor candidates: Future universities. Counselor Education and Supervision, 41(3), 175-192. directions at two
32. Terzi, Ş., Ergüner-Tekinalp, B. ve Leuwerke, W. (2011). Psikolojik danışmanların okul psikolojik danışma ve rehberlik hizmetleri modeline dayalı olarak geliştirilen kapsamlı psikolojik danışma ve rehberlik programını değerlendirmeleri. Eğitim ve Öğretim Dergisi, 1(1), 51-60.
33. Walker, J. (2006). Principals and counsellors working for social justice: A complementary leadership team. Guidance and Counselling, 21, 114–124.
34. Wingfi eld, R. J., Reese, R. F. ve West-Olatunji, C. A. (2010). Counselors as leaders in schools. Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 4(1), 114-130.
35. Young, A., Millard, T. ve Kneale, M. (2013). Enhancing school counselor instructional leadership through collaborative teaming: Implications for principals. NASSP Bulletin, 97, 253-270.
36. Turkish Psychological Counseling and Guidance Journal / 2015, 5 (43)