Navigating Micro-Political Dynamics in Distributed School Leadership: An Ubuntu Perspective

Abstract

Distributed leadership has been widely adopted as an apolitical model, with little attention paid to its political dimension and attendant implications. Recent literature and distributed leadership practitioners’ experience affirm the existence of micro-politics and its attendant challenges. Hence, this study explores the inherent dynamics of the grossly overlooked micro-politics challenges within the distributed leadership framework. Anchored in Ubuntu African philosophy, the study offers a fresh perspective on how school leaders can mitigate the negative impact of micro-politics. The study adopts Rodger’s perspective on concept analysis research design to depict distributed leadership’s fluid and dynamic nature, emphasising contextual variability. The findings reveal that effectively adopting Ubuntu principles mitigates micro-political challenges by fostering inclusivity, equity and collaborative decision-making within a distributed leadership structure. The study contributes to the evolving body of knowledge on the micro-political dimension of distributed leadership and how it shapes leadership.