Demcratic Principles:

Introduction to Collaborative Leadership

Creating safe learning environments in modern day schools is a complex undertaking requiring a multi-lateral approach to solving the issues at hand. It is the complexity of these issues that drives the need for practicing democratic principles of collaboration, cooperation and action. In regard to this, the prevailing paradigm of leadership as command and control or a set of orders issued from a senior position is replaced by a paradigm of leadership where building relationships and creating a movement for change becomes the most viable choice for making change. Within this framework effective plans and policies can be implemented that can truly make safe learning environments a reality.

The leadership model proposed for this type of endeavor is the collaborative leadership model represented in the graphic provided. Collaborative leadership offers a unique perspective for those who work to make school environments safe because it views leaders more as facilitators of the leadership process. The leadership process seeks to include diverse perspectives of those who choose to become fully involved in the purpose and vision of creating safe school environments energizing a confluence of action. One of the founding tenets of collaborative leadership is that by fully engaging people in the process, a much greater sense of “meaning by making a difference” becomes a powerful motivating force.