towards%20a%20rationale%20for%20developing%20middle%20leaders

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towards a rationale for developing middle leaders
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• middle managers or leaders?
• teaching role
• administrative role
• change agents?
• an inherent ambiguity?
• high quality maintenance or change agents

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• 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

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

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• 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)

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

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• 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?

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• 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?

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• 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)

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