Purpose: Instructional leadership is a school leadership approach that emphasizes improving teaching and learning. This study explores how school middle leaders -- teachers holding leadership positions in schools, who are responsible for a particular area or discipline of the school's curriculum -- fulfill their instructional leadership role.…

Middle-management leaders are in a crucible. In addition to managing their extensive regular duties and leading groups toward common goals, they must navigate conflicting expectations and competing demands from their superiors and subordinates. The challenges in middle-management leadership are exacerbated in fast-paced, high stakes, large-scale…

Purpose: Instructional leadership is a school leadership approach that places great emphasis on enhancing the quality of teaching and learning. This study explored the enabling factors of instructional leadership in subject coordinators. Design/methodology/approach: The participants in this qualitative study were 24 subject coordinators in…

Middle leaders in schools are increasingly recognised as playing pivotal roles in school improvement. Although some school systems provide formal professional development for middle leaders, many middle leaders express a preference for job-embedded learning. Yet, international research has documented difficulties in providing intensive support…

This paper picks up and elaborates on the conception of policy translators in schools -- key actors in the enactment of policy. The qualitative data presented here highlight how it is often middle leaders doing high-profile policy work in schools, turning ideas into actions and bringing policy to life. As translators, they organise, manage, lead,…

This article reports on research regarding the leadership experience of women middle leaders in secondary schools. Previous research has focused on women in senior leadership in schools. Internationally, the teaching profession tends to be dominated by women, and yet in most countries, women do not occupy a commensurate proportion of senior…

Research shows that leadership is crucial for professional learning, often highlighting principals' "or" middle leaders' leading practices. However, in leading, professions with differing roles work together. With a decentring perspective on leadership, we shift the focus from the individual principal or middle leader to joint leading…

As part of its project on instructional leaders at the middle tier, International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) and Education Development Trust (EDT) conducted case studies in five jurisdictions, exploring the professional practices and perceived impacts of instructional leaders and the enabling factors present in the systems in which…

This study explored characteristics that principals, senior leadership team members, and middle leaders perceive as supporting the effective functioning of senior leadership teams (SLTs) in high-performing Catholic composite and secondary schools (CCSS) in Western Australia. Composite schools include both primary and secondary students. The…

Growing evidence suggests that the effectiveness of a school's operations is determined not by a single leader, but by a community of leaders. Middle managers can coordinate processes in formal positions and lead informal groups, facilitating the realisation of leadership goals. This study utilises a large-scale survey to analyse middle managers'…

This study explores the link between principals' leadership practices and learning achievements from a distributed leadership perspective, using semi-structured interviews with TVET supervisors, middle leaders, and teachers. A detailed discussion on how school principals actually practised distributed leadership (DL) and how these practices…

As part of its project on instructional leaders at the middle tier, International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) and Education Development Trust (EDT) conducted case studies in five jurisdictions, exploring the professional practices and perceived impacts of instructional leaders and the enabling factors present in the systems in which…

This study contributes to the field of educational careers by exploring all educational career choices, whereas existing literature has focused on only a few. Deploying the push-pull-mooring framework (PPM), several undiscovered influential factors regarding educational career choices were captured. Using qualitative research methods, more…

The role of the Heads of Departments (HoDs) in the school structure is to provide middle leadership. They assist the principals on the day to day leadership of the schools. They are responsible for ensuring the achievement of their departmental and school vision and mission. This study sought to explore the nature of the challenges faced by the…

Purpose: The current study investigated the impact of organisational trust on emotional well-being and performance of middle leaders during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: A convenience sample of 265 middle leaders in kindergartens in China responded involving trust in schools (e.g. trust in principal…