Academic Middle Leaders—who are they, what do they do, and why are they important?

Director of the Centre for Cultures of Thinking

Middle leadership is a term that has evolved from traditional notions of middle management within education and has gained prominence in the last ten years (De Nobile, 2018; Gurr et al., 2013; Bryant, 2019). This evolution is due to the increasingly complex and complicated nature of middle leadership roles.

Middle leading is described as ‘a relational practice of someone in a school with a positional title, with a teaching load’ (Grootenbooer, 2018 cited in Day & Grice, 2019, p. 10). These leaders occupy key linking positions (Harris & Jones, 2017) between senior leaders and teachers and are therefore, often considered to be ‘wedged between’ (Gregory Marshall, 2012, p. 503) the higher and lower levels of the school. In addition, these leaders have unique personal, relational, and professional capabilities (Duigan, 2006). Therefore, middle leaders assume broad responsibility and work as connectors between people and places where educational activities take place.

Academic middle leaders are specifically charged with meeting a school’s organisational, curricular, and pedagogical goals through their influence on teachers. These leaders are ‘uniquely placed to influence the quality of teaching and learning within their subject areas’ (Bennett et al., 2003, p. 131). They are commonly appointed to their roles based upon their ‘professional knowledge…including knowledge of curriculum, pedagogy, social and psychological processes, and organisational systems and policy processes’, but balance this with teaching their own classes (Busher, 2006, p. 43). Academic middle leaders influence others, seek to unite people, empower them to participate and to act towards shared goals for educational improvement (Bush, 2008; Dinham, 2016; Montecinos et al., 2022; Robertson & Timperley, 2011). As a result, their work is intrinsically relational and situational, as they work closely with teachers who, in turn, prepare learning opportunities for students.

Academic middle leadership roles involve both managerial tasks, which are administrative and organisational, and leadership tasks, which are active, innovative and link to school strategy and staff development (Bryant, 2019; Crawford, 2012; De Nobile, 2018; Gurr et al., 2013). Managerial tasks are easy to identify and assist the day-to-day running of the school, faculty or teaching team. These tasks include devising routines, directives, overseeing budgets and resources, keeping records, reporting deadlines, conducting class observations and overseeing professional review documentation (De Nobile, 2018). Greater expectation, however, continues to be placed on middle leaders to lead teachers. Leadership includes being ‘improvement-orientated’ and requires defining responsibilities for people, engaging them and developing their capacity (Bryant, 2019, p. 418-419). Academic middle leaders model and inspire innovative practice, which can be informed by curriculum developments, pedagogic preference, and site-specific school strategy. In so doing, these leaders assume huge responsibility and accountability in a school (Bryant, 2019). Pedagogical leadership has also become higher profile due to shifts in government reform in education (Day & Grice, 2019). Therefore, the nuanced nature of academic middle leadership extends well beyond procedural management tasks (Crawford, 2012).

Academic middle leaders navigate the complexities of their roles on the job and over time. This is significant, as these leaders continue to shape their identities and abilities to influence, as they grow and change over the course of their leadership journey. People with whom they work and events that transpire along the way can influence them greatly, potentially altering the way they think and act in the future (Busher et al., 2007; Sparrowe, 2005; Sun, 2016; Zheng et al., 2020). Interestingly, academic middle leaders do not receive any formal training from government or independent authorities in the Australian context. Training usually consists of small-scale external workshops or some early mentoring or coaching (Bryant & Walker, 2022). Thus, their capacity to be a ‘master craftsman’ (Jaeger & Pekruhl, 1998 cited in Gregory Marshall, 2012, p. 507) in areas such as teamwork, motivation of staff, leadership of curriculum and pedagogy, change management and strategic organisation, are often developed as they enact their roles in context (Gregory Marshall, 2012).

At BGGS, we have a unique academic middle leadership structure consisting of Directors of Faculty as well as Heads of Department/Subject. These leaders are central ‘cogs’ in the workings of the school. At BGGS, academic middle leaders are granted time, space, and flexibility to ‘engage with agentic and creative responses to policy and practice’ (Ainsworth et al., 2022, p. 1). This has been fundamental as we have adjusted to a new senior secondary system in Queensland. These leaders have showed outstanding stewardship of curriculum, resource development and assessment linked to new syllabi, to set our students up for success. Directors and Heads of Department/Subject are trusted by Senior Leadership as experts in their areas and have a great deal of autonomy to lead their teams. Academic middle leaders at BGGS also hold accountabilities to the Deputy Principal (Academic) to filter information up and down, and assist in setting pedagogical direction at a school-wide level. They likewise report to the Dean of Studies to support the assessment practices and reporting of student achievement to parents and external authorities. Therefore, academic middle leaders occupy an essential level of leadership at the school.

Academic middle leaders at BGGS have great respect for one another and enjoy opportunities to collaborate. They meet regularly with their middle level team, and with their senior leaders to discuss new initiatives, share expertise and review teaching and learning policy and practice. This support system is important. In recent years, they have been granted excellent opportunities for professional development as a group in the areas of strategic thinking, blended coaching and values-based leadership. Nonetheless, at the heart of effective academic middle leadership are the relationships these leaders build with their teaching teams. It is very much true that at BGGS, academic middle leadership work constitutes ‘professionalism underpinned by humanity’ (Dinham, 2016, p. 195). These relational aspects of middle leadership are highlighted as foundational in the development of teacher pedagogy as well as the achievement of institutional goals (Bush, 2008; Dinham, 2016; Wiliam, 2016).

Academic middle leadership at the School will continue to emerge as leadership is ‘a practice, not a role’ (Harris & Spillane, 2008 as cited in Jarvis, 2012, p. 481). It is vital that our academic middle leaders adapt to situational changes. These may involve the changing nature of our secondary school context to soon include a Junior School. Middle leaders’ personal qualities and leadership styles, as well as expertise pertaining to knowledge and skills in their discipline areas will continue to evolve (Robinson, 2011). Consequently, middle leadership is complex, multifaceted, but increasingly important as these leaders support teachers to influence the quality education of our girls.