Conclusion, Contributions, and Suggestions 6 133 members who interact with other members unrelated to formal roles or perceived leaders with an intrinsic motivation to discuss and try schoolwide improvements to education jointly. To understand this spirit better, we discuss how these three elements are related to the literature. Thefirst element is interaction between teammembers, unrelated toformal leadership roles or perceived leaders. The element of interaction can be related to what Stoll (2020) referred to as co-creation. Based on previous research on capacities for learning, Stoll proposed an agenda for change in which she addressed policy makers, practitioners, and researchers. In this agenda, she highlighted the necessity for a collaborative process of learning and leading in schools, proposing that “creating capacity for learning won’t be ‘your responsibility’ or ‘my responsibility’ but will be located at all levels of the system and community, involving people in genuine collaboration” (Stoll, 2020, p. 426). Based on her focus on the school as a system and its community, we highlight the relevance of interactions within and between horizontal and vertical working relations. The second element is an intrinsic motivation rather than an extrinsic motivation to improve education. This is in line with the self-determination theory (SDT), which argues that intrinsic motivation leads to more positive outcomes than extrinsic motivation (e.g., Deci & Ryan, 2012; Ryan & Deci, 2000). We endorse the findings of previous research that identified a positive impact of teachers’ intrinsic motivation on their innovative behavior at work (Klaeijssen et al., 2018; Pyhältö et al., 2012; Thurlings et al., 2015). These previous studies describe innovative behavior as the extent to which teachers develop and implement new ideas. We studied a specific type of innovative behavior since we focused on the collaborative innovative behavior of teams. We found a positive association between intrinsic motivation and distributed leadership practices. More specifically, SDT posits that the fulfilment of three basic psychological needs is conditional for intrinsic motivation – i.e., the need for competence, autonomy, and relatedness (e.g., Deci & Ryan, 2012; Klaeijssen et al., 2018). This dissertation has found that within schools with a collaborative spirit and a higher degree of distributed leadership, these three needs are met. Regarding the need for competence, teachers within these schools are stimulated to take on a leadership role based on their expertise and competence. The teachers also grant leadership to others who have relevant expertise for the task at hand. Regarding the need for autonomy, teachers seem to experience professional space. They look beyond their own classroom, talk about improving education with their colleagues, and have a school principal who provides this space and involves them in developing the school’s vision. Regarding the need for relatedness, teachers and school principals interact with each other and are connected by asking and providing advice. Relating the element of motivation of teams to SDT helps to (theoretically) position the collaborative spirit better. The three needs, originally intended to describe individual motivation, thus also help to
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