Leadership of special schools for students with severe intellectual disability in Hong Kong

Abstract

Leadership has been receiving research interest in recent decades. Some scholars believe it has powerful influences on student achievement (Leithwood et al., 2010) and is an agent for making changes in a dynamic educational landscape (Bush, 2007). As in other schools, special schools for students with SID face challenges that render the notion of one “heroic” school leader unrealistic. By analysing leadership roles and responsibilities in special schools, it is possible to understand better how leadership is distributed over multiple leaders in formal and informal posts. While many school leadership distribution studies have been conducted in the UK, the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada (Heikka et al., 2013), the existing database on leadership in local special schools is incomplete. This qualitative two-case study examined formal and informal leadership in SID special schools and investigated how leadership is distributed among these leaders. Data were collected through a series of semi-structured interviews with participants, observations, and documents analysis. It found that leadership was distributed organisationally, incidentally, and formatively. Successful leadership distribution in a SID school requires a positive school culture, a supportive principal, and favourable organisational conditions. Externally, leadership distribution is dependent on government and sponsoring body educational policies. This study contributes to the existing literature on leadership distribution in special schools for students with SID and informs organisational planning and formulation of leadership development in schools to benefit students with SID.