Distributed Leadership and Primary School Governance: Enhancing Learning Quality in the Era of the Merdeka Curriculum

Abstract

Effective primary school governance necessitates a leadership model that transcends individual centralisation, instead distributing leadership capacity across all organisational strata. This study provides a conceptual and empirical examination of how distributed leadership serves as a vital mediator between school governance and learning quality within the framework of the Merdeka Curriculum (Kurikulum Merdeka). Adhering to a systematic literature review of 45 international and national studies published between 2015 and 2025, the analysis scrutinises: (1) the conceptual dimensions of distributed leadership in primary education; (2) the mechanisms through which it mediates governance quality; (3) the subsequent impact on instructional outcomes; and (4) its specific implications for Indonesia’s current curricular shift.
Findings demonstrate that distributed leadership consistently bolsters organisational capacity, nurtures professional teacher collaboration, and elevates instructional effectiveness. A meta-analysis of the reviewed corpus reveals a substantial average effect size of 0.68 regarding the correlation between distributed leadership and learning quality. Ultimately, this article argues that the successful implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum hinges on a fundamental transformation: moving away from top-down, centralised models toward a distributed approach that empowers headteachers, educators, staff, and school committees as collective leaders.