Middle Leadership is where it’s at…

Last week the PLL Middle Leadership team were lucky to be joined by Dr Kylie Lipscombe from the University of Wollongong in New South Wales. Her evening webinar session – and consequently our early breakfast session – was attended by over 100 middle leaders from across Scotland. Some tuned in from their classrooms, some were in staff rooms at school, others dialled in on their commute.

And it was an hour well spent.

Her research is really engaging and although it made apparent the many demands and multi-faceted nature of middle leadership, the overriding message was one of recognising the impact that is possible if middle leadership teams are given the right conditions to flourish. Her research gives a strong underlying sense of the importance of the middle leadership team for increased impact and success.

Middle leadership is where it’s at.

Or in the more articulate words of Dr Lipscombe:

'Middle leaders can work in partnership with senior leaders and teachers as key brokers in school improvement'

Lipscombe stressed the importance of positionality for the middle leader. She outlined that it is about getting the position right so that middle leaders can have greatest impact on learners: too close to senior leaders and they lose credibility with their teams and too close to their teams and they risk losing credibility as a leader.

'Middle leaders should influence up, across and down in a strategic, focussed and deliberate approach.'

So positionality is key. It’s not the easiest dance to learn but Lipscombe urges us to consider the great sphere of influence that is afforded from this crucial position - get this right and the rewards are worth all the tentative steps that have to be mastered.

Lipscombe then went on to present to us on harnessing the skills of facilitation and how they are beneficial to middle leadership in a multitude of ways: managing procedures, regulating contributions from others, giving expert guidance, engaging in purposeful dialogue, helping decision making and in giving social and emotional support. This generated some thought provoking responses from our practitioners and some good practice from CLD teams was shared.

The Q and A session was insightful and it is a real privilege to hear from busy middle leaders before they start their days, tuning in, engaging with research and discussion. After the event Dr Lipscombe continued to engage and answer questions and shared resources on a padlet. This time for collaboration and engagement was really much appreciated.

So breakfast with the Australian academic for me last week was a bit of a pivotal moment in my own thinking about middle leadership. Change that narrative.

Is it an easy position to be in? Eh, no – rather it is a complicated dance of positionality dependent on core conditions. But can it have huge impact on our learners? Yes. Yes, it can.

And that is why middle leadership is where it’s at.

Huge thanks to Dr Kylie Lipscombe for working with Education Scotland. We hope to continue this partnership, given the response to her research by our practitioners and her really practical session.

Further information can be found in ACEL (Australian Educational Leadership) Volume 43 Issue 2  (Login required).