- Mar 8, 2026
- Posted by:
- Category: Abstract of 10th-iaceducation
Abstract Book of the 10th International Academic Conference on Education
Year: 2026
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Top Sharing As An Innovative Model For School Leadership – Perspectives On Its Implementation, Potential And Impediments
Ricarda Ringdorfer, Michaela Waldherr
ABSTRACT:
Top Sharing for school leaders – a model in which two individuals jointly assume school leadership with shared responsibility – is gaining relevance in response to increasing workload, role complexity, and declining interest in leadership positions. While its potential benefits are widely discussed, empirical evidence on acceptance and implementation conditions among school leaders remains limited, particularly in Austria. This study explores the acceptance of Top Sharing and perceived conditions for its implementation using a survey of Austrian school leaders and participants in school leadership training programs. The survey included scaled and ranking items, supplemented with optional open-text responses. Thirteen complete datasets were obtained from 37 survey accesses, providing first empirical insights into acceptance patterns and implementation conditions. Findings indicate high conceptual acceptance: 91% of respondents consider schools generally suitable for Top Sharing, and 69% would personally consider such an arrangement. Primary and lower secondary schools are perceived as particularly suitable contexts. Motivations focus on health preservation, workload reduction, and shared responsibility, while reported advantages include complementary competencies and professional exchange. Respondents also identify substantial structural barriers, particularly unclear salary regulations and insufficient legal frameworks. Overall, the study suggests that before Top Sharing can be considered as a leadership model in Austrian schools, systemic, regulatory, and financial frameworks would need to be established, rather than increased acceptance among school leaders. Over half of respondents (55%) expressed willingness to participate in a potential pilot project.
Keywords: Acceptance Factors; Implementation Conditions; School Leadership; Shared Leadership; Top Sharing