towards a rationale for developing middle leaders

middle managers or leaders? teaching role administrative role change agents? an inherent ambiguity? high quality maintenance or change agents

most middle management training has focused on specific, existing roles eg HODs, Co-ordinators, SENCO it values hierarchical structures emphasises ‘efficient’ resource management professional knowledge it has little to do with leadership or team working

Who needs middle leadership? the individual school the Northern Ireland system is it an integral part of succession planning?

‘Who sets the agenda for the transformation in which middle leaders play such a crucial part? Is it the government, the employing body, the school, or the middle leaders themselves?’ (Tony Bush)

who identifies middle leaders? the school - CPD the employing body (post 2009) themselves – open access ‘search for the leader inside yourself’

is leadership development a generic entitlement in a democratic culture rather than the creation of an elite? if so who gets developed in what ways at what stages?

a change from a focus on leaders to a focus on leadership needs to be based on building trust redesigning jobs changing organisational structures creating a learning culture can these 4 elements be taken into account in middle leadership development?

do we prepare middle leaders for what exists now or for a preferred future? future scenarios may include weakening of the hierarchical structure re-schooling de-schooling what role would middle leaders then have? (how to avoid built-in obsolescence)

what works in practice? Acceleration centres Assessment of competencies Accreditation Self-review mentoring on-line support local networks but no one model fits all