Distributed Leadership as a Path to Organizational Commitment: The Case of a Lebanese School

Abstract

This study explores distributed leadership in school characterized by high teacher organizational commitment using case study research. Leadership is distributed in formal and informal manners. Teachers were directly involved in academic but not in administrative decision-making. Although school lacks democratic leadership, teachers’ organizational commitment remained high. This is due to the surrounding authoritarian Lebanese culture that normalizes the formal leaders monopoly on decision-making especially administrative decisions perceived to be outside the realm of teachers’ expertise. Results suggest recommendations for the transformation of schools to professional communities that adopt a distributed form of leadership where teachers’ voices are invited. © 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.