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Today, more than ever, there is a need to uncover the patterns of thinking that shape the rationality of the leader cohort to aid them in their role-making of the challenging niche truly. This Husserlian phenomenological inquiry purported to explore the individual and collective lived experiences of nine (9) purposively selected Filipino academic managers regarding the essence of Dweck's growth and fixed mindsets in their leadership preparation. A semi-structured interview was employed as the main data gathering tool. Field texts were analyzed using Colaizzi's Procedural Steps to abstract the phenomenon's essence and were validated through the member checking procedure and critical friend technique. Interestingly, the study debuts an insightful Taxonomy of Cognitive Personas, which typifies the dynamic nature of the leader cohort's mindsets. Embedded in the Perennial Learner, Proactive Player, and Pragmatic Leader personas are cognitive tools and value priorities utilized in various influencing and regulating experiences in academic organizations. Academic organizations can use the findings of this study to focus on the cognitive preparation of millennial managers for higher leadership roles. Such findings are expected to complement the skill-based preparation that the millennials can employ for their role-making efforts in school leadership.

This study used critical discourse analysis to explore how higher education administrators in the United States talk about how they assess and support online programmes. Specifically, we hoped to analyse administrators' perceptions of their responsibilities over online programmes, faculty and students, to attain where they may need more training. Therefore, we explored the perspectives of 11 administrators at both the mid-level administrative and campus senior administrative levels who oversee online programmes in U.S. higher education. Our findings suggest that mid-level administrators hold pivotal roles in communicating needs, administrators are not viewing their online faculty holistically, current online programmes assessment is insufficient and concern for student engagement is often neglected. Implications for research and practice include additional investigation of the online faculty experience and the development of administrative training specifically focused on the needs of online programming and online faculty support.

The ignorance of the role of middle leaders as a 'key broker' between school principals and teachers in the literature has motivated this study to investigate the effects of middle leaders' learning-centred leadership on teacher professional learning through teacher mastery goals and their self-efficacy with the moderating effect of the quality of communication between middle leaders and teachers. A total of 453 data were collected from 24 primary and secondary school teachers in six districts in Kedah. This study employed partial least squares structural equation modelling approach. Findings revealed that learning-centred leadership has a significant and positive effect on teacher professional learning. Teacher mastery goals and teacher self-efficacy have significant mediating effects on teacher professional learning. The effect of learning-centred leadership on teacher professional learning is stronger when the levels of quality of communication between leaders and teachers are higher compared to their counterparts. Hence, future principal preparation programmes should equip future principals with the knowledge of learning-centred leadership that could facilitate teacher learning happening and flourishing.

Various scholars have confirmed that teacher safety against learner victimization is a growing concern worldwide, and this problem is exacerbated by a lack of understanding and readiness to implement policies to address this matter. In this regard, policy implementation by middle leaders (MLs) in creating safe school environments has attracted much less interest as a possible way of addressing issues of teacher safety and the prevention of learner victimization. MLs are regarded as individuals who have the potential to lead, plan, inspire and persuade, and in so doing, they are in an ideal position to translate policy into practice. As such, this paper provides a qualitative policy document analysis of The National School Safety Framework (NSSF) premised on the theory that every individual in the school experiences safety in dissimilar ways and has unique safety needs. The NSSF is endorsed by the Department of Basic Education to guide in addressing issues of violence and safety in South African schools. Underpinned by the rational choice theory and utilizing policy document analysis, texts in the NSSF were analysed and interpreted to propose transformative policy strategies that can assist MLs in managing teachers' safety at schools more effectively. The findings suggest that administrative duties and a lack of time make it difficult for MLs to create a safe and supportive learning environment in schools. Another finding was that there is no clear plan outlined in the NSSF to guide MLs to pursue teacher safety against learner victimization in schools. To assist MLs, this paper proposes transformative policy strategies that can assist them in promoting teacher safety and preventing learner victimization in schools. The paper recommends that more explicit interpretation and implementation strategies be communicated with schools to assist them in fighting the war against violence in schools.

This paper provides a review of recent empirical research investigating middle leadership practices in New Zealand secondary schools. Eight academic articles and one report are included to establish an analysis of the recent evidence of practices of curriculum middle leaders. The majority of the research utilises mixed methodology and aligns middle leadership practices within a paradigm of instructional leadership practice. Researchers found that effective middle leadership practices are associated with higher academic achievement and more equitable student outcomes. Effective middle leadership includes practices such as capability in instructional leadership, the ability to undertake problem-solving conversations with teachers and goal setting skills. Research reveals middle leaders found managing problems and conflicts challenging especially when they were concerned with teacher performance. They were required to coach and mentor staff with minimal leadership preparation, despite often being leaders of large teams of people with responsibility for considerable budgets and resources.

To afford school middle leaders meaningful opportunities to initiate change, we must provide them with the space and flexibility to engage with agentic and creative responses to policy and practice. Whilst we argue that the tensions identified in Bennett's seminal reviews persist, there may, nonetheless, be opportunities for school middle leaders to creatively influence educational agendas. Through engaging in a critical interpretative synthesis of school middle leadership literature, we consider how the subjectivities of such leaders are discursively constructed. We argue that a culture of performativity has diminished opportunities for middle leaders in English schools to develop a strong sense of agency, educational ideology and authentic professional responsibility. However, a current governmental focus on subject knowledge may have opened spaces for a collegial agency, despite the prevailing neo-conservative policy discourse. We thus identify, the potential for movement beyond a discursive position to one where school middle leaders take greater responsibility for developing practice to align more closely with their educational values. Utilising a dialogic theoretical perspective we examine how middle leadership in English schools is currently practiced and mediated in relation to the changing political landscape, and suggest that seemingly contradictory positions provide a fruitful site for new research.

This article explores the complex academic-administrative role of the associate dean in US higher education administration. Previous research in Australia, UK and USA indicates that these academic middle managers experience significant conflict and ambiguity due to their roles and responsibilities as faculty members and administrators. Victor Turner's concept of liminality provides insight into the challenges of academic middle management at this administrative level. Analysing qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews with associate deans at US research-intensive universities, I find that associate deans experience changes in perspective and relationships that foreground contradictions of meaning and highlight their paradoxical social status. I argue that, as part of a process of transition from faculty to administrator, the associate deanship is essential to the social construction of the university.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore how mid-level student conduct professionals (SCPs) made meaning of their professional and mid-level leadership experiences during their institutions' immediate responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study draws on sensemaking as a theoretical lens and literature related to mid-level professionals and student conduct practice to ground its inquiry. Interview data was collected and analyzed from four senior-level student conduct professionals within a single State within the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) accreditation region. Findings center on three key themes voiced by the participants: the importance of maintaining operational processes, feelings of middleness, and reflections on student and personal wellbeing. Discussion and implications for professionals and postsecondary organizations confronting the short- and long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are offered. Here, we highlight the valuable roles student conduct professionals play within postsecondary organizational life and the need for greater attention to these practitioners in both research and practice.

Proper management is vital in the achievement of an organization's vision and sustainability. Several researches have shown that one management style, micromanagement, has been receiving particular attention in the corporate world due to its notoriety. Micromanagement tends to control the employees in almost all aspects; igniting employee frustration which leads to adverse effect in the company by and large. Results of micromanagement include suppressed creativity, low morale of employees and an increase in employee turnover. However, some authors argue the significance of micromanagement in specific circumstances. Thus, this study is aimed at identifying the level of effectivity of micromanagement as it relates to teachers and middle managers in the academic sector in terms of the following: compliance, productivity, competence, and job satisfaction. The study used descriptive correlational design. The researcher employed a complete census of the respondents. These are teachers and middle managers in the Basic Education Department who are from the kindergarten, elementary, junior high school and senior high school levels, with 48 teachers and 12 middle managers respectively. Findings of the study signify that micromanagement is effective in promoting compliance and productivity, moderately effective in terms of competence, and slightly ineffective when it comes to job satisfaction. Furthermore, the study also yielded no significant difference when the respondents are grouped according to profile. Similarly, there is no significant difference between the teachers and middle managers on the level of effectivity of micromanagement on this basis, it is recommended that middle managers must reconcile the use of micromanagement to uphold compliance and productivity without neglecting the teachers' competence and job satisfaction.

Purpose: The challenges faced by universities in China have presented opportunities to enhance the leadership of educational leaders in universities. Little has been written about the leadership styles of mid-level educational leaders in Chinese higher education (HE). The objective of this study is to provide an authentic understanding of 1) the leadership styles of mid-level educational leaders as experienced by academic members, 2) experienced contextual factors related to the leadership styles of mid-level educational leaders. Design: Qualitative research was conducted, and the perceptions of 13 academic members from nine universities in China were explored. Findings: This study revealed authoritarian leadership style was the most reported leadership style of the mid-level educational leaders, followed by transformational and transactional leadership styles. Participants suggested to minimise the adoption of authoritarian leadership style and to encourage the application of transformational leadership style. Regarding the factors that shape leadership style of mid-level educational leaders, this research supports the following factors: culture, organizational policies & administration, discipline, and incentive mechanism. Originality: We gained a deep understanding of the leadership styles of mid-level educational leaders and the contextual factors that shape the leadership styles in this study. The results can be conducive to future leadership training and to the mid-level educational leaders to create environments that facilitate the application of educational leadership practices.

According to the UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE), there has been a 36.5% rise in reported cases of work-related stress between 2018/19 and 2019/20, to over 822,000 individual cases. Europe stress-related absence was second only to musculoskeletal disorders, with estimated work-related stress costing European companies 20 billion euros per year and accounted for nearly 60% of lost working days. This paper focuses on the under-researched area of stress among middle leaders in education. While it is widely reported that teachers face high levels of stress, as a result of organisational pressures, there is a paucity of research on middle leaders. This paper considers whether there will be a significant negative relationship between self-reported levels of resilience and self-reported levels of stress amongst 61 middle leaders. The two sets of data were subjected to cross-correlational quantitative analysis to establish the strength of the relationships between each of the six dimensions of resilience on perceived stress. Among the findings, a key result was that the question in the title was answered, namely that high resilience results in low stress in middle leaders in education. However, it was more nuanced than this and there were factors such as levels of peer support and an individual's perception of their future which did contribute to a reduction in perceived levels of stress. The findings suggest that senior leaders in education have a greater impact on middle leaders' levels of resilience and perceived levels of stress than they may think.

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' perceptions of organisational learning and discuss their additional supporting roles and responsibilities considering organisational-level contingency variables in a centralised education system (Hungary). How can middle management function in a centralised educational system? How can it act as a 'bridge' and support organisational and individual learning? Our findings reveal that middle managers perceive leadership similarly to school staff (i.e. in terms of learning organisational behaviour), while principals' perceptions significantly differ. The study examined teachers' perceptions of organisational learning in various positions according to school size and type. It was found that middle managers play a more prominent role in smaller schools compared to larger ones, as they are more likely to utilise their strategic role in contexts with a more cohesive community. These findings suggest that the function of middle management should be better exploited in larger organisations.

The organizational settings and subcultures in which Latine mid-level student affairs administrators are employed obscure the covert nature and permeation of racialized processes throughout the academic organization. Such processes determine who is promoted and who can lead. I used a constructivist grounded theory approach to challenge current leadership discourses and to propose an initial set of theorizing constructs for an emergent theory of university leadership as a racialized space. The emergent theory delves into how opportunity structures, organizational environments, and individual agency affect the career aspirations and professional pathways to senior leadership roles for 93 Latine mid-level student affairs administrators across the US. Four intersecting structural practices are proposed to illustrate how leadership is a racialized space: (a) leadership is not neutral--it is raced, gendered, and classed; (b) pathways for Latine leaders are constrained through structural exclusion; (c) formal credentialing and notions of professionalism cloak whiteness as leadership legitimacy; and (d) social and material resources are inequitably distributed to Latine student affairs administrators, whose heavy workloads and emotional labor leave them trapped in entry-level and mid-level positions without opportunities for advancement. Implications for theory and practice are offered.

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 leadership roles. Therefore, given middle leadership is a steppingstone to senior leadership, we need to further identify and understand the barriers and enablers for women navigating this layer of leadership. This qualitative study answers the following questions: Are there barriers for women to access middle leadership? If so, what? What enables women to access middle leadership? The data for this study was collected through 65 interviews with leaders undertaken in 33 non-government Australian secondary schools. A thematic analysis of the transcripts of interviews, revealed several barriers and enablers for women accessing middle leadership. The identified barriers included family and caring responsibilities, informal networking that excluded women and assumptions made by others. Enablers included structural and strategic actions by senior leaders to promote women, mentoring and relevant leadership programmes.

Middle leadership is an area of increasing interest in higher education with little research to date exploring middle leading from the perspective of function or discipline leadership roles within Departments. This article uses a case study of twelve middle leaders within a university faculty in Australia to examine the broader contexts of middle leading practices. Using the theory of practice architectures as a theoretical tool, the article discusses practice arrangements enabling and constraining middle leading for discipline leaders and coordinators. Of particular interest is the important role of social-political arrangements in enabling and constraining middle leading practices and the tensions that arise. Given the critical strategic role of middle leaders in leading teaching and learning in universities, this article provides a deeper understanding of the practice landscape within which middle leading practices happen and factors influencing the middle leader's role so that universities can provide appropriate support and development.

Purpose: We examine the ways state education agency (SEA) and local education agency (LEA) leaders interpret and use educational policy to guide the provision of services for multilingual students classified as English learners (ELs) in their contexts. Our inquiry focuses on the external factors leaders describe that either enable or constrain their ability to interpret and implement policies designed to expand equity for EL students. Research Method: We conduct semi-structured interviews with 17 SEA and LEA leaders across three states. We use an interview-based approach to understand how educational leaders leverage policy to guide EL services in their states and districts. Findings: Three external factors (resources to serve EL students, networks to share EL expertise, and concrete policy monitoring and guidance from the state) interact with leaders' individual understandings of and approaches to policy implementation to shape the ultimate degree to which equity is enabled or constrained for EL students in their contexts. Implications: Educational policy intends to provide SEA and LEA leaders with guidance to expand equity for ELs. However, our study suggests that the degree to which these policies expand equity for ELs in practice depends not only on the leader's understanding of the policy, but also their access to resources, human capital, and professional networks. SEA and LEA leaders that take a deep, transformative approach to implementation may partner to assess how SEAs can create external conditions that help to expand equity for ELs.

This paper addresses the roles of job position in relation to early childhood leadership (ECL) and school type as a potential moderator of this relationship in China. A sample of 918 research participants, including 149 principals/vice-principals, 108 middle leaders and 661 teachers, was investigated. A three-factor model of ECL including staff management and development (SMD), peer learning and support (PLS) and communication with parents (CP) was used. By conducting linear regression analyses, it was found that the higher the job position an individual held, the more ECL practices he or she performed. The interaction terms (job position × school type) were statistically significant related to SMD and CP but not statistically significant related to PLS. In the case of public school type, the relationship between job position and CP became slightly negative. For private school type, however, it showed a curve-linear relationship. This paper indicates that teachers rarely participates in school-level decision-making due to the top-down management structure, especially in public preschools. It also suggests that the traditional preschool management system leads to preschool teachers in China are socialized as followers with no responsibilities outside classrooms.

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 elementary schools in Israel. Data collection was based on semi-structured interviews, and data analysis included three stages: sorting, coding and categorizing. Findings: The findings identified three significant enabling factors of instructional leadership in subject coordinators: pedagogical knowledge, relationship capability and support from the principal. Originality/value: This study suggests that the enabling factors of instructional leadership in subject coordinators differ from those of instructional leadership in principals because of their different places in the school structure and explains the enablers of instructional leadership in subject coordinators as middle leaders.

The paper analyses how mid-level bureaucrats in sub-national offices navigated political considerations when trying to fulfil their roles and responsibilities in the post-conflict context of Nepal. Utilising interview data from a wide range of stakeholders, I focus my analysis on perspectives from district level officials who were called on to fulfil multiple roles in an increasingly decentralised context. Their views reveal an acute awareness of the intensification of challenges and patronage politics that resulted from the conflict and prolonged uncertainty. At the same time, several officials found ways to navigate these political waters, and provided insights into what they think can help in ensuring educational success in such conditions. These assessments are likely to remain relevant today, as other local officials begin to take the responsibility of education governance in Nepal's new three-tier governance structure.

This paper discusses the organization of students' internship in new circumstances caused by COVID-19 pandemic. The focus of the research is on the IT companies in eastern part of Croatia and their perspective on how they managed students' internship during and after the lockdown. Some of these IT companies successfully cooperate with the Department of Information Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Osijek. Since 2015 the Department enrolls students in graduate study of Information Technology track. From that time students used to do their internship and later find employment in IT companies in the region. The well based cooperation with local IT companies was interrupted in 2020 by the COVID-19 lockdown and semi-lockdown. In such a situation, teachers and IT companies' managers have been trying to find out the proper ways in which students could fulfill their tasks via online or hybrid mode. To learn more about the experience from the perspective of IT companies, we interviewed 18 of them. The paper points out the observed advantages and disadvantages as well as suggestions for setting a framework for future internship programs. Employers are thinking about continuing to perform online or hybrid internships, and it is clear to them that one of the answers is well defined and regulated model of internships in the online environment.

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 from principals which instead is often ad hoc. This study examines how middle leaders' professional learning can be supported through the development of appropriate organisational structures. It presents three principal-designed models distilled from qualitative data collected in 12 case study schools, inclusive of public, semi-private, and international schools in four East Asian societies. Each model contributed to the development of middle leadership capacity in areas relevant to the schools' improvement agendas. The models vary in degrees of formality, resource intensiveness, and processes for engaging and developing leadership. The findings contribute to the growing literature on middle leader development, and the role of school infrastructure in professional learning by suggesting how school-based leader development strategies can be framed in coherent and intentional models that take into account of the available infrastructure and potential professional interactions to provide systematic in situ support for middle leaders.

Middle leaders play a central role in the Christian leadership of their school. This research explores how nine middle leaders in three distinct Anglican Schools in Australia enact their roles, and the conditions that influence faith expression within their schools. Findings demonstrate that middle leaders shape and are shaped by school culture and community. Our theory of Christian middle leadership, derived from four key themes, shows how school middle leaders navigate the personal and institutional dimensions of faith expression, through three distinct discourses. Their responses and the responses of their school enable them to interpret their role, career and calling.

This study examined vertical segregation in Mongolian public universities, making the formation of the glass ceiling visible. Due to its socialist foundation, the Mongolian university sector has long been masculinized, wherein the two systems of socialism and democracy exist simultaneously, and this coexistence is "clumsy" rather than harmonious. Hence, there are two isolated paths towards investigating gender and leadership practices in this sector: political appointments of senior leadership positions from the government and the collegial type of elections in middle management. This study has focused on the more democratic practices of elections in middle management. The main goal of this study was to define what factors the voters/academics consider when they evaluate the candidates competing for leadership positions in Mongolian public universities. A total of 312 academics from Mongolian public universities participated in the survey. The results indicated that academic leadership positions were seen as more of an academic duty rather than a leadership responsibility. Interestingly, males and politically affiliated academics tended to strengthen the masculinized culture, perpetuating the practice of the "Boys' Club" in academia.

This paper presents an examination of identity "in" and "as" practice as it relates to a group of educational practitioners known as middle leaders. Drawing on the theory of practice architectures as a site-ontological approach for conceptualising educational leading, the paper considers an individual's identity as being informed by, and accomplished amidst, the sayings, doings and relatings of practice. Although theorising the connections between identity and practice is not new, a central argument presented is that identity occurs at the nexus of the individual and social practices. Data are drawn from an empirical study of the practices of nine middle leaders responsible for facilitating a district-wide initiative aiming to improve literacy pedagogy in their particular primary schools. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with the middle leaders revealed 11 identity-practice framings which evolve over time and space, negotiated in response to site-based conditions. Findings contribute to understandings about the dynamic multifaceted nature of middle leaders' identities.

Purpose: Middle leadership is difficult to define and fathom as these roles are fluid, adapting to the context of individual schools. However, little is known about the relationships among middle leadership, teacher commitment and job satisfaction in the field of education. The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework on the mediating role of teacher job satisfaction in the relationship between middle leadership and teacher commitment in schools based on past research, particularly in the context of schools. Design/methodology/approach: A review of literature was undertaken to develop the conceptual framework. Findings: Findings suggested that middle leadership can positively influence teacher commitment via the mediating effect of teacher job satisfaction. Originality/value: The value of this paper lies in understanding middle leadership as a salient factor in influencing teacher commitment via teacher job satisfaction. This paper's framework lays a strong foundation for the expansion of the middle leadership knowledge base on middle leadership as well as for future theory development and debate.

Department heads are central in the university setting as an important buffer between university leadership and academic staff. However, taking on a middle management role can lead to significant disruptions in academic careers. To investigate the career trajectories of 31 academics in middle management roles, two waves of semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2015-16 (N = 31) and 2021 (N = 26). By exploring (dis)continuity in academic careers and (dis)engagement with participants' managerial roles, we identified four types of trajectories that appeared to influence participants' possibilities of future academic career development. We labelled these trajectories as follows: temporary managers, early managers, duty-served senior managers, and acclaimed managers. We argue that temporary managers, who are appointed to a fixed-term managerial position early in their academic careers, face the highest risk of disruptions in their academic career development, while duty-served senior managers, who are appointed to a fixed-term managerial position later in their careers, represent the most sustainable group.

This study uses the concept of 'organisational power' -- control over the environments in which others interact -- to investigate the structures and lived experience of power among academic associate deans at public, research-intensive universities in the US. Previous research claims that the associate dean role lacks 'legitimate power.' Through in-depth analysis of semi-structured interview data, this study shows that the associate dean role requires a strategic mode of power that is not socially recognised in universities. Associate deans therefore must manage perceptions of power in order to be effective in an environment that does not acknowledge such power. It is argued that higher education's failure to legitimise organisational power obscures the role and limits leadership capacities. Empowering academic and administrative staff with knowledge regarding power and power practices in academic middle management through continued research is essential to safeguarding collegial processes and ensuring the longevity and vitality of the university.

The university academic manager (AM) or head of school/department is typically positioned in a hierarchical world: as a middle manager 'sandwiched' between senior management and subordinates. I propose a different framing: the AM cohabits two worlds, the worlds of hierarchy and collegiality respectively. Using an ideal type framework and data based mainly on interviews with 20 AMs, I examine AMs' tasks, identity and social relations, showing that AMs adopt a dual work identity that is associated with the 'two worlds' imagery which explains their orientation towards their tasks and social relations. This interpretation enables a deeper understanding of how AMs enact their role and encourages dialogue about the future of middle-level university management.

Technological changes have seemingly become inexorable rather than the exception for academic institutions. It has been argued that an organisation's ability to adapt to a changing environment depends on its preparedness for change. This article delineates the extent of preparedness for managing technological changes in teaching and learning among mid-level academic leaders (MLALs) in higher education. The survey was administered to MLALs (n=76), undergoing changes relating to the use of innovative teaching and learning technologies (ITLTs). The rating method and Yeh Index of Perception (YIP) score were used to determine the extent of preparedness for technological changes among MLALs, and it was found to be on average. The results from the ANOVA test shows there was a significant difference in the mean scores for the dimensions of preparedness for changes (p<0.05). The results conclude that preparedness for changes is determined by multi-dimension indicators as suggested by diverse managerial competences and status of readiness for changes held by MLALs. The results suggest that MLALs have a relatively low competence level for motivating the adoption and implementation of technological changes in teaching and learning. Besides, the leaders had a low belief that proposed technological changes for innovative teaching and learning were beneficial to them. These results can be used further to design the training and strategies for managing technological changes in education. Therefore, the study proposes sensitisation prior to any implementation of technological changes in education.

COVID-19 has presented unprecedented challenges to schools, leaving principals to lead rapid organizational change with limited guidance or support. Drawing on interviews from a larger, national study of principals at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we analyzed the experiences of 20 principals in four large, urban school districts--Boston, Denver, New York, and San Diego. We found that principals relied on both district guidance and preexisting school structures and conditions as they led through the crisis. Although no principals were satisfied with district guidance, principals responded to guidance on a spectrum--from abiding, to challenging, to subverting guidance. Principals' responses were associated with their perceptions of the internal capacities of their schools, as well as the district guidance. Our findings support an emergent typology of principals as middle managers during crisis, which sheds light on how principals act as middle managers and how districts can support their work. [For the corresponding grantee submission, see ED618684.]

This study examines how middle managers support their employees' strengths use via three sequential analyses. In Study 1, an open-ended questionnaire survey of high-performing middle managers at a global manufacturer in Japan (n = 144) was conducted to collect comments on strengths use support (SUS). The grounded theory approach was used to generate four categories of SUS, and a quantitative questionnaire was developed based on the analysis. In Study 2, three dimensions of SUS (understanding employees' strengths and interests, developing strengths through challenging assignments, and supporting the accomplishment) were identified by exploratory factor analyses using the questionnaire survey data of middle managers in Japanese firms (n = 208). Study 3 examined the validity and reliability of the three-dimensional model using confirmatory factor analysis of the questionnaire survey data of middle managers in Japanese firms (n = 209).

Schools are a complex system made up of not only relationships, infrastructures, and challenges, but also constraints. It seems essential that schools, as complex organizations, work in synergy, according to a shared vision with all the actors involved in the educational process. School management is now part of a process that is increasingly implemented in a shared way; a single person in charge cannot manage the complexity that the school requires. In order to observe and narrate this complexity, the National Institute of Documentation, Innovation, and Educational Research (INDIRE) has carried out several research projects in recent years that focus on the analysis of school leadership. In particular, the European project Learning Leadership for Change (L2C) aimed to promote and support the experimentation of a shared leadership approach in some strategic areas for schools. The results of this project highlighted the importance of the lighthouse leaders in implementing shared leadership, whose main function is to involve all school actors keeping the community active and growing. These more informal teams do not remove the need for the so-called formal intermediate management structures. It is also essential for the shared leadership approach to create sharing networks that include local and regional strategic partners to reinforce the sustainability of these innovative practices.

Research in the context of decentralization has primarily focused on the role of school-based actors in improving educational outcomes for students in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The role of the "middle tier," such as subnational staff at the regional or district levels of educational leadership within the education bureaucracy, has not been systematically understood. We conduct a rigorous review of academic and gray literature in the English language and find that (1) research on the middle tier is limited in the discourse on education reform in LMICs; (2) in the available research, there is tension in the theoretical conceptualization and the practices of the middle tier between different fields of study and research methods; (3) we know even less about whether and how the middle tier supports improvements in student learning. Our article calls on researchers to investigate how the middle tier can strengthen education service delivery in LMICs.

The purpose of the study is to examine the ethical dilemmas among mid-level school leaders in the social-ecological context through role-play simulations. We examined simulations involving role-played ethical scenarios and group debriefings among 30 mid-level school leaders from different Israeli high schools and districts during the MA course in the educational leadership program. A qualitative analysis generated an expanded social-ecological model for mid-level school leaders. The model consists of six main layers: individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, public policy, and technology. Each of the layers is divided into sub-categories. The study's findings reveal the concurrent appearance of the different layers. These findings emphasize the complexity of the role of mid-level school leaders, as they cope simultaneously with a variety of ethical dilemmas characterized by multiple conflicting values. Moreover, the study findings indicated the interpersonal layer to be the most dominant layer, demonstrating mid-level leaders' dual role as both classroom teachers and as team leaders. This study may contribute toward the development and modification of professional training programs for mid-level school leaders. It may also be helpful when designing strategies to deal with ethical challenges and to strengthen the school's ethical leadership.

Too often, instructional leadership is perceived as an area of competence for principals with less focus on teachers, especially those with subject leadership responsibilities. In the study reported on here we investigated the perspectives of subject leaders and their perceived competence in instructional leadership as a basis for its correlation. Two hundred and five subject leaders from a purposive sample of 100 primary schools across 5 education districts of the Free State province in South Africa were surveyed on their knowledge, beliefs and perceptions of instructional leadership, in relation to their perceived competence. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients and regression. The results show that beliefs about instructional leadership tend to correlate negatively with perceived competencies and make no impact on such competencies. On the other hand, knowledge and perceptions showed significant correlation and are thus considered to be the better predictors of subject leaders' perceived competencies on instructional leadership. Further examination using regression analysis shows that perceptions may have a high impact on perceived competence. Consequently, we recommend interventions to deliberately target subject leaders' perceptions of instructional leadership to promote a more distributed practice of subject leadership in schools.

School middle leadership is a complex and increasingly important school leadership position, with research showing the significance of middle leadership to school improvement and teacher development. The purpose of this article is to identify and analyse empirical peer reviewed articles on middle leadership from 2006 to 2020, to understand how middle leaders are defined, the responsibilities they hold, the impact and professional development they are afforded, and to discover lacunae in studies to support further research. The review was conducted using Scopus and ERIC; a total of 35 articles across 14 countries were selected. Using Nvivo, narrative synthesis was utilised to analyse the articles resulting in four conclusions: (1) middle leadership is difficult to define; (2) middle leadership positions and responsibilities vary considerably and are best understood in context; (3) middle leaders directly and indirectly impact teacher practice, team development, school reform and professional learning, although there is limited direct research into their impact; and (4) middle leadership professional learning has not progressed to the point to adequately equip middle leaders for the complexity of their positions. The article highlights two distinguishable differences to separate teachers and middle leaders, and provides an operational definition, elaborated description and set of middle leadership characteristics to guide future research and policy advancement.

Utilising new empirical research this study adapts an existing literature-based competency framework into a hierarchy of competencies needed for education middle managers in England to be effective in their role. The study involved a national survey (n = 164) of further education middle managers and is the first quantitative study investigating the role since 2002. The original contribution of the study is the development of a new ladder of competencies for education middle managers which outlines a suggested ordering of competency development with due consideration to prior training and qualifications. This can enable an improved approach to recruitment, selection and development of education middle managers. The paper presents parameters for consideration when developing competency frameworks for roles more widely which include: prior training, experience, expectations, and challenges of the post-holder as well as the external working environment. It highlights the value of such considerations and demonstrates the importance in paying due regard to them.

Whilst extensive research has been undertaken concerning educational leadership and management, there is a paucity of scholarship regarding the merit-selection of school leaders other than principals. This is especially true of principal-led merit selection panels convened to recruit middle-level school leaders, namely deputy principals, assistant principals and head teachers. Meritocratic discourse holds that merit-based selection should, ostensibly be an objective, fair and equitable process enabling applicants to compete on a level playing field via a comparative assessment of their capabilities, talents and attitudes. This paper explores the extent to which government school principals in the state of New South Wales Australia, consider the school-based merit selection process they lead is objective and bias-free. Hence, the findings reported here reveal that despite the New South Wales Department of Education (NSWDE) promulgating the primacy of merit in its school-based selection paradigm, non-merit variables (factors having little to do with merit) exert considerable influence over the appointment decisions made by NSWDE principals when assembling their respective school leadership teams.

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has increased anxiety and stress among teacher education managers and has given rise to the question of whether they have the competencies to execute their operational responsibilities productively. The theories of resilience and transformational leadership underpin this study in which teacher education managers' resilience and their responsiveness to the well-being of staff executing their operational practices in an open distance e-learning context were explored. A qualitative approach was adopted and virtual video conferencing interviews with teacher education managers were used to explore how they mitigated their strategic and operational roles and their managerial functions to ensure the well-being and organisational performance of staff working from home. Results revealed the experiences of distance managers to have been positive in that they implemented organisational strategies to mitigate the challenges faced to ensure wellness and performance among staff working from a distance. Further research applying a mixed-method design should be undertaken to determine how resilient managers and staff working from home are. That may yield different results.

The term "middle leader" in the context of English education has evolved into an overarching title to describe a leadership position for practitioners who have school wide responsibilities in addition to their classroom duties. Such responsibilities can consist of pastoral leadership; curriculum leadership; leadership of additional student support; leadership of a team or phase and leadership of a specific school improvement priority. Educational middle leadership is founded on the notion of bringing together the duty of contributing to a strategic leadership remit whilst remaining firmly within the role of a classroom practitioner. It is argued that this 'space' for middle leadership is due to the increasingly hierarchical organisational structures of schools; consequently, being viewed as the 'middle layer'. However, it is often unclear how much real authority or autonomy middle leaders have either to act strategically or make leadership decisions for their school. Despite many studies having previously explored the impact of senior leadership in improving school systems through deploying varied leadership styles, there is an absence in literature underpinning what constitutes effective strategic middle leadership. This study explored and interrogated the strategic ability of middle leadership, to contribute to this discourse. It critically reflected on the effectiveness of middle leadership, in a small-scale context, when making sustainable curriculum changes to a primary school's maths curriculum. The research methodology adopted was an autoethnographic approach. It used a documentary method, that consisted of a reflective journal, kept by the first researcher, who was also a maths curriculum middle leader within an English primary school. The reflective journal was used as an authenticated document for elucidation and analysis. The main findings suggested that collective leadership was appropriate for this research context. The study further evidenced the reality of how personal, yet important understanding leadership cultures are, in all levels of leadership. The conclusion pointed to the direction of middle leaders being more successful if they were strategic, and therefore must both find and develop systems that assist them to be located on the "balcony" rather than only the dance floor.

This study aimed to understand the lived experience of department chairs in a Canadian university context. Guided by phenomenological inquiry, 21 individual interviews of experienced academic chairs were analyzed. Findings focus on the rewards and challenges of the position, advice for professors interested in taking on this role, and the systemic issues that impact change. Results highlight the importance of preparatory training and ongoing institutional support, including the deliberate building of a chair community. This paper includes a call to action which will be of interest to Deans and other senior administrators, faculty leaders, those contemplating the chair role, and those involved with institutional governance.