Lopez, P. 2013. Fundamentos epistemológicos del liderazgo distribuido: el caso de la investigación en educación. Cinta moebio 47: 83-94

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Distributed leadership epistemological bases: the case of education research

Dr. Pablo López (pablopez@uchile.cl) Departamento de Educación, Universidad de Chile (Santiago, Chile)

Abstract

The article reviews research between 1999 and 2013 with the aim of knowing the epistemological foundations of research on distributed leadership, with special interest in education studies. We conclude it is an area in developing, with potential, but its empirical foundations are weak and methodological strategies are not always explicit, making it difficult to evaluate their findings somewhat. With respect to the theoretical basis, much of the research finds their sustenance in Engeström’s activity theory and Hutchins’s distributed cognition. The importance of distributed leadership studies is its growing influence in the administration of colleges and universities, making these studies, a major political issue.

Key words: distributed leadership, activity theory, distributed cognition theory, methodological strategies, research techniques.