Deepening Distributed Leadership : A democratic perspective on power, purpose and the concept of the self

Distributed leadership is a model of leadership that has much relevance to leadership of educational institutions. Its meaning and potential need to be carefully and critically considered, however. The focus of this article is on how democratic leadership, based in the concept of holistic democracy, provides a framework to extend and deepen attempts to distribute leadership. Our experience in using and testing the framework indicates interest in moving towards leadership practices that are more holistic and participative and indicates the value of in-depth future research in diverse contexts that will test the model further and advance understanding of how creative engagement with the framework can enhance both leadership and learning.