Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book reviews the publications by five key scholars who had major contributions in the theory building and empirical investigations of distributed leadership in various Western countries. It reports the first action cycle of the two-round redesigned case study in 2004. This report was based on teacher interviews on the effect of leadership styles, the role of the external consultants, the reflective nature of teacher engagement, team effects, and curriculum decision making. The chapter's purpose is to identify the leadership functions and reconstruct the patterns of leadership practices in teams and the emergent properties embedded in the interactions among members. The Hong Kong government took this initiative with a focus on building individual professional capacity for teachers, rather than following Skilbeck's recommendation of adopting a structural approach to developing school curriculum and curriculum leadership.