Who are Middle Leaders?

In the first post we suggested that middle leaders are crucial people in schools for “promoting and sustaining quality education”. But who are these middle leaders? In short, it is teachers who have an acknowledged leadership role but still have a significant classroom teaching role. The title these teacher-leaders have can vary depending on the size and scale of the school (or other educational institution), its level and/or character, and its site or context. For example, in a large secondary school, the deputy principal might not be a middle leader because their work is primarily administrative and they have little contact with the classroom, whereas in a small primary school, the deputy principal might also have a large teaching load. So for us, a middle leader has a ‘foot in two camps’ – they are part of the school’s formal leadership structure AND they are actively and regularly teaching in the classroom.

Because of their unique position, we argue that middle leaders are well placed to provide leadership for professional and curriculum development in educational institutions. However, they are also in a difficult space sometimes as they have to manage the administrative, managerial and relational dilemmas of straddling both school management and the classroom. Because of their unique position, middle leading cannot simply be understood through leadership theories and models that really have been developed for principals, and so we have embarked on a mission to promote and appreciate the practices of middle leaders.

We will add a new post every week and over time we hope to build a coherent and thoughtful understanding of middle leaders in educational contexts.