Mitigating The Micro-Political Dimension of Distributed Leadership In Educational Leadership: An Ubuntu Perspective

Abstract

Distributed leadership has been widely adopted as an apolitical leadership model with little attention paid to its political dimension and its attendant implications. This study explored the inherent dynamics of the grossly overlooked micro-politics within the distributed leadership framework. It offers a novel perspective on conflict resolution anchored in Ubuntu principles. Grounded in the interpretive paradigm, the study employs qualitative methods and draws primarily from secondary data sources. The Ubuntu Theory serves as our conceptual lens with emphasis on its principles of interconnectedness, collective responsibility, and conflict resolution. Rodger's Concept Analysis Research Design (CARD) was employed to depict distributed leadership's fluid and dynamic nature with emphasis on contextual variability. The design also enables us to make sense of the data from academic literature, pertinent texts and theory. The study proposed a framework that can be harnessed to counteract the effects of micro-politics distributed leadership practice. This we believe will empower educational leaders to foster inclusivity, equity and collaborative decision-making. This study contributes to the evolving discourse on distributed leadership by offering a fresh perspective anchored in African philosophy with global implications for educational leadership practices.