Meeting the needs of local communities and businesses: From transactional to eco-leadership in the English further education sector

Abstract

Leadership in the post-incorporation English further education system has not been distributed in nature, but transactional, driven by the external demands of funding and inspection regimes. However, in the light of the current rhetoric of localism in further education policy there is a view that distributed leadership would be an appropriate alternative form of leadership within this context. This article reviews the education literature and argues that distributed leadership should be introduced to the sector, but that on its own this will be insufficient for addressing the government’s agenda of meeting the human capital needs of businesses,  needs-based equity for disadvantaged adults, or the wider benefits of education. This is because distributed leadership, whilst involving a dispersion of responsibility, may not equate to a dispersion of power. To disperse power to local areas and to facilitate an authentic distributed leadership focused on local stakeholders a policy of localism that encourages self-governance and open systems is needed. More specifically flexible accountability arrangements are required that encourage strategy and leadership at the local level. Such distributed leadership embedded within a local governance that facilitates dispersed power to key local stakeholders is similar to what is described as eco-leadership in the leadership literature.