Middle Leaders Research Articles

Commentary: The Importance of Generating Middle Leading Through Action Research for Collaborative Learning

In this commentary I connect today’s emphasis on collaborative learning with the Nordic tradition of study/research circles and action research. More specifically, I do this by examining three key aspects: the need to understand one’s history and educational roots; the importance of fostering and generating middle leaders through action research; and the significance of recognizing middle leaders in schools and pre-schools for the development of collaborative learning.

What is quality education? How can it be achieved? The perspectives of school middle leaders in Singapore

This paper presents the findings of a research project that examines how middle leaders in Singapore schools understand ‘quality education’ and how they think quality education can be achieved. From the perspective of these middle leaders, quality education emphasises holistic development, equips students with the knowledge and skills for the future, inculcates students with the right values and imbues students with a positive learning attitude. Quality education is delivered by good teachers, enabled by good teaching and learning processes and facilitated by a conducive learning environment. The challenge of achieving quality education is to find the balance between lofty ideals and ground realities. One critical implication of the research findings is that policymakers should appeal to the ideals of practitioners to drive change.

Developing a Conceptual Framework for Considering the Complexities of Professional Learning and Development in the Secondary School Context

This paper discusses the development of a conceptual framework for scoping, provisioning and reporting the complexities of in-service Professional Learning and Development (PLD) in the New Zealand secondary school sector with a focus on middle leaders. Government-funded PLD in the New Zealand context is a research and evidence-based service provided to schools in response to high-level government policy. These PLD contracts aim to address inequalities for young people by enhancing the quality and effectiveness of leadership and teaching practices which result in increased student achievement, especially for priority students and those from minority backgrounds. The rationale for developing a conceptual framework for understanding government-funded, externally provided professional learning and development will be discussed. Recommendations for policy makers and researchers on the complex ways research evidence and policy come together in the delivery of in-service PLD for leaders and teachers in schools will be highlighted and opportunities for improvement examined.

Preparing school leaders

In Hong Kong, there is an acute need to provide newly appointed principals with opportunities for continuous professional development so that they could face the impact of reforms and globalization on school development. The Education Bureau has commissioned the tertiary institutions to provide structured professional development courses to cater for the needs of aspiring, newly appointed and serving principals for leadership development. This paper aims to report on an exploratory qualitative study regarding the perception of 32 newly appointed principals from secondary schools on (a) their role as a new principal and (b) their needs and expectations on the school leadership development programme so that contents of existing development programmes could be improved to meet their needs. Findings demonstrated that the newly appointed principals expected to be equipped with the administrative skills of human resources management such as empowering middle leaders and handing underperforming staff; the practical technique of financial management; the skills of dealing with legal matters regarding school management and the capacities of curriculum and instructional leadership. In addition, they attributed networking with peers and working with mentors as invaluable experience and support for their early years’ principalship.

농협 조직구성원의 이직 의도와 중간관리자의 리더십 유형 관계에서 직무만족도의 매개효과

Abstract There are the leadership is the main factor for managing effective organization as the size of organization becomes large and its functions are a complex and rapidly changing environment. Therefore it needs to suggest the desirable direction for managing organization by the effect of middle manager's leadership on organization's effectiveness. The aim of the present study is to investigate the proper leadership type of middle manager through the mediating effect of job satisfaction between turnover intention and leadership type recognized of organizational members. It suggested the guidelines for the proper leaderships type and the efficient management for employees through the findings. To test hypotheses, the leadership types are classified and the data of this study has collected to evaluate middle managers from the actual employees of agricultural cooperatives in Nonghyup. Through the findings of this study, it is expected the organizational convergence and provides guidelines in managing the agriculture organization to suggest implications and future research directions.

Korea’s linkage strategy between FTA hub policy and middle power leadership in regional economic integration

This article focuses on Korea’s free trade agreement (FTA) hub policy and its implication for Korea’s role in the regional integration process of the Asia-Pacific. It particularly bridges a gap in the existing literature, addressing why Korea, pursuing an FTA hub nation, simultaneously takes a proactive approach toward a range of regional projects. It argues that Korea’s FTA hub policy has not been solely driven by economic consideration, and the Korean government’s intent to use an FTA hub status to gain political objectives is equally, or even more, important. In particular, Korea has linked its FTA hub policy and the exercise of middle power leadership in the shaping of the regional trade architecture. The Korean government has perceived Korea’s FTA hub status as a useful instrument for Korea’s leading roles such as facilitating regional trade liberalization, managing its manners and sequence, and mediating between the USA-led and the China-led regional initiatives.

Middle leaders’ learning in a university context

This article focuses on the phenomenon of middle leadership in a university context and directs attention to the significance of learning as a central facet of leadership development. Drawing on the reflections of two of the authors as new middle leaders (chairpersons of departments), this article critically examines how middle leaders learn aspects of their role. Two tenets underpin our analysis: learning is fundamentally a social process – we learn with and from others; and learning is relational – what and how we learn is determined to some extent by others and affects others. Our experiences point to learning constraints and affordances arising from events, practices and artefacts. Constraints were largely associated with transmission learning experiences, while affordances were found in collaborative knowledge-sharing contexts that arose as information grounds in response to an information need. We argue that both those we lead, and the organisation itself, would likewise benefit from a knowledge-sharing perspective on learning.

A Case Study of Middle Grades Leadership in a Conversion Charter School

This 3-year case study examined middle grades principal leadership in a takeover charter school. The researcher analyzed principal and teacher interviews, field notes, and documents in relationship to a middle grades model of principal leadership. Results suggest the principals’ limited experience, organizational factors unique to takeover charter schools, an emphasis on student test scores, and a personal educational philosophy of teacher autonomy, precluded the advocacy and implementation of elements of the middle grades principal leadership model.

Middle leadership in higher education

The paper is informed by a research study exploring middle leadership as experienced by Chairpersons of Departments within one faculty in a university in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is argued that middle leadership in higher education needs to be understood as a highly complex relational endeavour, characterised by compromises that are negotiated amidst leadership structures, hierarchies and relations. The focus on leadership as first and foremost relational provides a frame for critically examining the nature and complexities inherent in the lived reality of middle leadership. Relational leadership is conceptualised as encompassing four inter-related dimensions. These are derived from data and respectively centre on structure and power; trust and credibility; learning; and discursive relations. We suggest that each dimension provides a productive lens through which the complexities and challenges of middle leadership can be explored. Throughout the emphasis is that for middle leaders, the relations that they have to navigate and negotiate are multi-faceted and multi-directional, involving relations up, down and across organisational structures and networks. Middle leaders are shown to be acutely aware that their decisions and the decisions of other staff variously impact upon the context and relations that they are working amidst.

Tips for middle leaders

Middle leader Chris Byrne discusses the five strategies he employed to raise attainment within his department

Opening up communicative spaces for discussion ‘quality practices’ in early childhood education through middle leadership

Professional learning communities (PLCs) are often established and organised through collaboration among teachers, with one teacher having the role of facilitator. Such communities are widely recognised as important for facilitating both teacher and student learning. However, less is known about the leadership practices and the nature of the communicative spaces for learning as part of a PLC. The case study presented here focused on a district in Sweden involving 14 early childhood teachers who led their colleagues in implementing the revised curriculum for early childhood education (Lpfö-98). In this case, the leadership practices resembled a shared form of activity, which recognises that leading peers in learning-focused professional activities require what we describe as ‘middle leadership’. Data was collected in the form of field notes and recordings of participants’ dialogue in meetings involving middle leaders as they discussed their work; the dialogue was analysed through the lens of the theory of practice architectures. The results show the nature of communicative spaces as mechanisms for enabling teachers to engage in learning-focused meaning-making activities connected to systematic quality work. The results also reveal the practices and practice architectures that enabled the middle leader to conduct the work of leading the development of his or her colleagues.

The System for the Use of Psychologist in School Communities: Development of the Use of Psychologists Scale School Executives and Middle Leaders Form

The System for the Use of Psychologist in School Communities: Development of the Use of Psychologists Scale School Executives and Middle Leaders Form

Developing middle leaders

From ensuring teaching consistency to tackling in-school variation – our headteacher diarist is clear that the secret to success in many areas lies with middle leadership

Applying distributed leadership across contexts

Distributed leadership is the most popular leadership model, judging by the number of submissions on this theme received by EMAL, and by the growing interest expressed by academics, policymakers and practitioners. It is in the vanguard of an emerging recognition that solo, heroic, leadership is inadequate to address the complex issues facing education systems in an increasingly globalised world. However, the main focus, conceptually and empirically, has been on distributed school leadership. The first paper in this issue, by Sandra Jones, Marina Harvey, Geraldine Lefoe and Kevin Ryland, provides a welcome contribution to the more limited literature on distributed leadership in higher education. These authors argue that a new approach is required, which goes beyond individual control and management bureaucracy, and they explore whether distributed leadership provides this alternative model. Through an action research approach, building on four earlier projects in Australian universities, they conclude that a prescriptive definition of distributed leadership that fits all contexts is not possible, and claim that a more fluid description is required. It is difficult to imagine distributed leadership working well without the involvement of middle leaders. In the second article, Annette Thomas-Gregory examines the role of middle managers in a university department of health and social care. She points to the developing literature on middle management in higher education and explores the professional identities assumed by middle managers in her case study university. She notes that professional identity is formed during initial socialisation and concludes that there is a complex relationship between self and role. Leadership is strongly aligned with values, the focus of the third paper, by Robin Mueller. She stresses the complexity of organisational values and addresses this concept in the domain of university administration. She examines how values have been depicted, drawing on a literature review and unstructured interviews with administrators. She concludes that values may be seen as both structural and phenomenological and that objective and subjective variables may exist simultaneously. Cheri Minkler examines the relationship between school leadership and teacher social capital. She defines social capital as the resources used by teachers by virtue of their membership of social networks. She conducted a survey of teachers in Louisiana, United States, to establish if teacher social capital was prevalent in their schools. The study found high-moderate positive correlations between transformational leadership and aspects of teacher social capital. The fifth paper, by Stelios Orphanos and Margaret Terry Orr, also focuses on leadership preparation. They report a study of 175 teachers whose principals were prepared in an innovative ‘exemplary’ leadership programme, and of 589 teachers whose principals were prepared in more traditional ways. The findings show that the more innovative programme, focused on instructional strategies, has a small but discernible influence on teacher outcomes. The authors conclude that effective leadership practices are influenced by the nature and quality of leadership preparation. Educational Management Administration & Leadership 2014, Vol. 42(5) 601–602 a The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permission: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1741143214541369 emal.sagepub.com

Continuing professional development for middle leaders in primary schools in Hong Kong

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on an exploratory study regarding the present situation of middle managers in schools; their professional development needs; and requirements of middle leaders for quality school management so that contents of existing professional development programmes could be improved to meet the needs of middle leaders of primary school education. Design/methodology/approach – Employing both quantitative and qualitative methods, this paper reports on a study of the training needs of middle leaders in primary schools in which their present situation, their needs for professional development and requirements for quality school management and leadership are explored. The study adopted survey questionnaires as the main method of data collection. To supplement quantitative data with regard to the professional development needs, six middle managers were purposefully selected for semi-structured interviews. Findings – The findings suggest that there are insufficient training opportunities for middle leaders in primary schools and that there is a strong demand for including the notions of interpersonal skills, crisis management, resources management and understanding of education ordinances in the professional development curriculum for middle leaders. The study recommends that training programmes should exert focus on meeting the specific needs of middle leaders and the content and approach be multi-dimensional. Originality/value – In spite of the small scale of the survey study, the data collected from individual in-depth interviews can provide the investigators with supplementary information on their professional development needs which also serves the purpose of triangulation. The finding can also be a very constructive reference for course providers who wish to re-engineer and improve the quality of professional development programmes for middle leaders. This may help arouse their interests and enhance their learning motivation.

Leading practice development: voices from the middle

Leadership has long been acknowledged as a significant dimension in effective school functioning and, indeed, school leaders can play a substantial role in professional development of staff. Here we have centred on the practices of leading as opposed to the qualities or characteristics of leaders, and this is emphasised by our use of the term ‘leading’ rather than ‘leadership’. In this article we explicitly focus on the leading practices of practitioners we describe as middle leaders, those with an acknowledged position of leadership but also a significant teaching role. Here we present data from a cross-national study of middle leaders in Australian primary schools and Swedish pre-schools that investigates the leading practices of middle leaders in educational contexts. The article draws on interviews with 22 teachers who have been given the responsibility for leading the practice development of their colleagues; these interviews give voice to this distinctive group of school leaders. In particular, the article draws on the theory of practice architectures to examine the social nature of the language, activities and relationships of leading ‘in the middle’, and the particular conditions or practice architectures that enable or constrain the development of middle leading practices in education. From this analysis we conclude with a definition of middle leading that includes positional, philosophical and practice dimensions. This could then be used to inform the domains of higher education, policy development and school education globally where middle leading practices are well established.

THE SYSTEM OF MIDDLE LEADERSHIP IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE LITHUANIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM

This paper explores the system of middle leadership in English schools and its implications for the Lithuanian education system. The paper draws on the findings from original research investigated three areas relating to educational middle leadership positions in education system of England including: the formal organizational role of middle leaders; their school responsibilities and the training and professional development of middle leaders. The paper is sought to use the case of middle leadership in English secondary schools to raise questions and identify implications for Lithuania where choices about the future of education policy and schools and are being considered. KEYWORDS: middle leaders, secondary schools, England, Lithuania. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.15181/atee.v1i0.660

Theorising Australia–Pacific island relations

Australia's relations with its neighbours in the South Pacific challenge theories of international relations and foreign policy analysis. Most existing analysis eschews an explicitly theoretical approach in favour of empirical description and ‘common sense’ explanations. Yet repeated patterns of interaction suggest that there is scope for developing a more theoretical understanding of the relationships between Australia and the Pacific islands. Moreover, lying at the margins in several dimensions of interstate relations, these relationships test theories and thus provide a basis to delimit or refine them. This article explores three important ways in which theories of international relations and foreign policy analysis and the study of Australia–Pacific island relations can benefit each other. First, Pacific island resistance to the projection of Australian power tests theories about the tactics available to ‘micro-powers’. Australia's frequent reorientation of and regular distraction from its approach to the Pacific islands provide evidence about ‘under-institutionalised’ policy making. Finally, the interaction of Australia's global ‘middle power’ status with its regional dominance challenges ideas of ‘middle power leadership’ and ‘strategic personalities’. These three insights lead to novel hypotheses about the conduct of foreign policy by non-great powers under conditions of extreme asymmetry.

The perceptions of secondary school middle leaders regarding their needs following a middle leadership development programme

The importance of middle leaders in bringing about improvement in schools is well recognized in the UK, as in many other countries, with the ever-present demand for raising standards and achievement. This article outlines some initial findings and discussion points emerging from the first stage of a project exploring how middle leaders in secondary schools in the United Kingdom perceive their leadership development needs, having recently completed a major middle leadership programme. An online questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to uncover the perspectives of middle leaders about aspects of their role in which they feel confident, their immediate development needs and what they perceive would help them to meet these needs. Most respondents felt confident in their role but, somewhat paradoxically, expressed a need for further development in their areas of greatest confidence, which may well reflect the increasing complexity of the role of the middle leaders in schools.

How to implement a new strategy as a middle leader

Implementing a new strategy is a common challenge for middle leaders. Ann-Marie Smith discusses how she successfully embedded, monitored and evaluated a new approach to giving student feedback