PATTERNS OF DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP IN SECONDARY VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTERS IN CHILE

Abstract

Purpose. Distributed leadership would contribute to the development of professional skills necessary to foster a culture of collaboration. The objective of this article was to analyze the patterns of distributed leadership in secondary vocational and training centers with a sustained improvement trajectory. Method. A non-experimental transactional quantitative investigation was carried out. To analyze distributed leadership patterns, the Distributed Leadership Multifactor Questionnaire was applied (Maureira and Garay, 2019). The sample consisted of ten secondary vocational and training centers from different geographical areas of Chile. Different patterns of distributed leadership and their relationship with sociodemographic variables were analyzed. For data analysis, correlation tests and a multiple regression analysis were performed. Results. All distributed leadership patterns are valued positively by managers, teachers and support professionals. The formal pattern was the one with the highest value, followed by the strategic, the pragmatic distribution pattern, the cultural pattern, the timely distribution pattern, and the incremental pattern. Age, experience and permanence in the center, as well as those who work in managerial positions, have a more positive assessment of the cultural pattern of leadership distribution. Conclusions. Distributed leadership is possible to the extent that there is a culture that supports it. Those educational centers with a sustained path of improvement have a leadership concept that facilitates more democratic participation and decision-making around a common project.