[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-46505-en":3,"doc-seo-46505-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":96},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},46505,1099513958607,"Jiven","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/100002390cf8733938c?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1778829742770036399",8,"Research & Report","Conceptualizing Distributed Leadership: Diverse Voices of Positional Leaders in Early Childhood Education","Distributed leadership in early childhood education is examined through the beliefs held by positional leaders. Principals and head teachers from two Hong Kong case-study kindergartens were invited to participate, with semi-structured interviews and shadowing used to generate the data. Findings indicate leaders’ beliefs can be grouped into five dimensions, covering understandings and what, how, and why leadership is distributed, as well as to whom it is distributed. These beliefs shape leadership styles, practices, and the allocation of responsibilities to followers.","Leadership and  \nPolicy in Schools  \nISSN: 1570-0763 (Print) 1744-5043 (Online) Journal homepage: [http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/nlps20](http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/nlps20)  \nConceptualizing Distributed Leadership: Diverse Voices of Positional Leaders in Early Childhood Education  \nAngela Choi Fung Tam  \nTo cite this article: Angela Choi Fung Tam (2018): Conceptualizing Distributed Leadership: Diverse Voices of Positional Leaders in Early Childhood Education, Leadership and Policy in Schools, DOI: 10. 1080/15700763 .2018.1513156  \nTo link to this article: [https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2018.1513156](https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2018.1513156)  \n Published online: 19 Sep 2018.  \n\n|  Submit your article to this journal  |\n| --- |\n|  Article views: 53 |\n|  View Crossmark data |\n\nFull Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at [http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=nlps20](http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=nlps20)  \nConceptualizing Distributed Leadership: Diverse Voices of Positional Leaders in Early Childhood Education  \nAngela Choi Fung Tam  \nDivision of Language and Communication, Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China  \nABSTRACT  \nThere has been little discussion about distributed leadership through the lens of beliefs. Principals and head teachers of two case-study kindergartensin Hong Kong were invited to be participants to examine how leaders think and act. Semi-structured interviews and shadowing were employed to collect data. The findings suggest that leaders’ beliefs can be categorized into five dimensions: “understandings”; “what,” “how,” and “why” leadership is distributed; and “to whom leadership is distributed.” It is suggested that the beliefs of leaders make a difference in leadership style, practices, and the assignment of duties to their followers.  \nIntroduction  \nThere is a growing number of studies examining distributed leadership (DL) in relation to the roles, responsibilities, and practices of positional leaders such as principals (Hujala et al., 2016; Li, Yam, & He, 2015), head teachers (e.g., Bøe & Hognestad, 2015), or both (Halttunen, 2016) in early childhood education (ECE). However, not much is known in the Chinese context,1 although studies have indicated that societal culture has significant impactson leadership behaviors(Hujala et al., 2016;Tian, Risku,&Collin,2016). While leadership is an influence relationship that exposes the values and beliefs of both leaders and followers (Hamilton & Bean, 2005), enacting a new paradigm of teacher leadership also requires teachers to undertake new ways of knowing and a reshaping of personal beliefs (Harris, 2013b;Li, 2015). Since there has been little discussion of DL through the perspective of leaders’ beliefs to examine how leaders think and act, this study aims to address this important but neglected issue. The contributions of this study are twofold: (1) to enrich the discourse about the beliefs and practices ofpreschool principalsand head teachers in relation to leadership, and (2) to present a new perspective of relationships between Chinese leaders and followers to understand how leadership is enacted through interaction and situation.  \nHong Kong educational reform in leadership  \nHong Kong has been criticized as highly centralized in both the educational system (Morris, Lo, & Adamson, 2000) and the organizational structure of Chinese schools (Ho & Tilky, 2012) . Changes usually emanate from within the top of the bureaucratic hierarchy. This top-down model of leadership is insufficient for school improvement, because the great-man theory2 of leadership hampers teacher participation (Ho & Tilky, 2012) . Moreover, studies in Chinese contexts particularly have shown that the development of DL have confronted many difficulties owing to the isolation and conservatism of teacher culture3 (e.g., Ho & Tilky, 2012) . The positional leaders ar","cbCaintCVbTIdXMQ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaintCVbTIdXMQ","pdf",1447841,5,1,19,"English","en",105,"# Abstract\n# Introduction\n## Background on distributed leadership\n## Leadership influence and teacher leadership\n# Hong Kong educational reform in leadership\n## Centralization and top-down leadership\n## School-based management and decentralization\n# Distributed leadership\n## Origins and core elements\n## Practice-centered model","[{\"question\":\"研究从什么视角讨论分布式领导（DL）？\",\"answer\":\"研究通过领导者的信念来理解分布式领导，重点考察领导者如何思考与行动。\"},{\"question\":\"本研究如何收集数据？\",\"answer\":\"邀请香港两所案例幼儿园的校长/园长参与，采用半结构化访谈与跟随观察（shadowing）收集资料。\"},{\"question\":\"研究认为领导者信念可以概括为哪些维度？\",\"answer\":\"领导者的信念可归为五个维度，涵盖对分布式领导的理解，以及“什么”“如何”“为什么”以及“把领导分配给谁”。\"},{\"question\":\"领导者的信念会如何影响分布式领导实践？\",\"answer\":\"领导者的信念会影响其领导风格与具体实践，并影响任务职责在追随者之间的分配。\"}]",1783544865,48,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":91,"head_meta":93,"extra_data":95,"updated_unix":28},"conceptualizing-distributed-leadership-diverse-voices-of-positional-leaders-in-early-childhood-education","",{"@graph":36,"@context":90},[37,54,69],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/conceptualizing-distributed-leadership-diverse-voices-of-positional-leaders-in-early-childhood-education/46505/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":41,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-16","2026-07-08",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82,86],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"研究从什么视角讨论分布式领导（DL）？","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"研究通过领导者的信念来理解分布式领导，重点考察领导者如何思考与行动。","Answer",{"name":79,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":80},"本研究如何收集数据？",{"text":81,"@type":77},"邀请香港两所案例幼儿园的校长/园长参与，采用半结构化访谈与跟随观察（shadowing）收集资料。",{"name":83,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":84},"研究认为领导者信念可以概括为哪些维度？",{"text":85,"@type":77},"领导者的信念可归为五个维度，涵盖对分布式领导的理解，以及“什么”“如何”“为什么”以及“把领导分配给谁”。",{"name":87,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":88},"领导者的信念会如何影响分布式领导实践？",{"text":89,"@type":77},"领导者的信念会影响其领导风格与具体实践，并影响任务职责在追随者之间的分配。","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":92,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":59,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":94,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":97},[98,102,106,110,114,119,124,127,132,135,139],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":99,"show_sort_weight":100,"slug":101},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":53,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":120,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":123},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":126},30,"research-report",{"id":128,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":130,"slug":131},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":130,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":130,"slug":134},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":136,"slug":138},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":140,"show_sort_weight":20,"slug":141},"General","general"]