towards a rationale for developing middle leaders

middle managers or leaders?

teaching roleadministrative rolechange 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 trustredesigning jobs

changing organisational structurescreating 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