Researching the transition from middle leadership to senior leadership in secondary schools: some emerging themes

Abstract

There is a growing trend for the composition of senior management teams to include fewer deputy headteachers (DHs) and more assistant headteachers (ADHs) in secondary schools in England and Wales. Part of the reason for this trend may be to offer more structured career opportunities for younger, able middle leaders who can then be rewarded financially by promoting them onto the leadership pay spine. It is not uncommon for ADHs to be promoted from within the ranks of existing middle leaders in the school. The transition from a middle leadership role (for example, subject leader or key stage subject coordinator) to a senior leadership role can be a challenging as well as an invigorating experience. Relatively little is known about this transition mainly, one suspects, because most of the research effort has concentrated on investigating the effectiveness of the training and preparation for newly appointed headteachers in what is recognised as a very demanding role. By contrast, little or no work has been done on the transition between middle and senior leadership roles. This research tries to address this evident lack of knowledge. Becoming a senior leader requires the individual concerned to gain a whole-school perspective when determining school policy and tackling complex problems. Turner (2005) noted that: