When considering signing up for the Middle Leaders - Leading Change (MLLC) programme, I have to admit that I felt a little hesitant as I’m not a promoted middle leader. My substantive post is as a Modern Studies teacher but since 2015 I have had a leadership role developing Learning, Teaching and Assessment. This includes involvement in Improvement Planning, whole school self-evaluation, planning and delivering in-house CLPL, and most recently, developing The Currie Way - our whole school approach to Learning, Teaching and Assessment.

Given my remit, my Headteacher encouraged me to participate, and any concerns I had were quickly alleviated when our first task was to consider the role of middle leaders. It was interesting to note in the reading by John DeNoble that middle leaders are responsible not just for departments but for projects or processes. They can be defined as having a vision for their area of responsibility, knowledge of good practice and are able to plan, motivate and encourage this. This definition of middle leaders applied to me along with some others on the course who were also not ‘traditional’ middle leaders.

The course provided rich personal and professional development by encouraging self-awareness, an understanding of privilege and identity, and knowledge to develop coaching skills. We also examined Leading Change, and this was particularly helpful in supporting and informing the actions I took in school when developing our Learning, Teaching and Assessment policy, “The Currie Way”.

As a school we have built a strong culture of learning and sharing practice. We have a rich programme of professional learning, including our ever-popular Coffee and Cakes and yearly Currie Learning Festival. Pre-pandemic, all of our teachers were involved in Currie Learning Groups with time built into our CAT calendar to research, discuss and share pedagogy.

I previously attended Education Scotland’s Supporting Teacher Leadership programme which was very helpful for considering Enquiry as a stance – and in the two years prior to lockdown all our staff engaged in Professional Enquiries. Many of these activities had to pause due to Covid but this also created a chance for us to step back and reconsider how we built on our existing culture, capitalised on teacher efficacy and ‘built back better’ when school started to get back to normal.

The MLLC programme provided a framework for thinking about how to do this. In particular, Kotter’s 8 step change model was useful. We knew that we wanted to pull all the different strands of what we were doing together into a new Learning and Teaching policy but not one that sits on a shelf and is never referred to.

The aim was to produce a “Currie Way” that identified excellent classroom practice, promoted consistency whilst encouraging diverse and innovative approaches, and can act as a framework for talking about and developing excellent Learning and Teaching and for self-evaluation. We wanted something that reflected our school community and our values, that drew on pedagogical research and provided practical support for teachers.

Learning and discussions from MLLC highlighted how impactful it is that all staff have ownership of change. This was a guiding principle for us. We dedicated an INSET morning for staff to share what they thought excellent learning and teaching was in our school. Our Student Leadership Team led Pupil Voice focus groups across all year groups to find what our students thought. We also asked Parents for their input. Finally as Kotter suggests, we “enlisted a volunteer army” in our Learning and Teaching Working Group and armed with input from our community we were able to create the Learning and Teaching Currie Way.

A massive piece of work, but one I felt didn’t go far enough. It was a vision but without the ‘why’ and the tools to achieve it. Kotter suggests that many change projects fail because victory is declared too early. Along with the working group, The Currie Way In Action was created as a way to exemplify what The Currie Way would look like in our teaching practice and our classrooms. It is linked to key research and has practical strategies, blogs, videos, and resources on a Teams page and in our new CLPL room that we can keep updated. Our staff, pupils and parents all highlighted how important relationships are in our school, which is why they sit at the heart of The Currie Way. It is these relationships and a culture of learning, listening and adapting that will help us in our journey to build this into the life and work of the school.

As for my leadership journey, I am doing what I love. In the past I have had a spell as Acting Curriculum Leader but find that this current role is the one I am most passionate about. I enjoy immersing myself in pedagogical research, trying new things in my classroom and sharing ideas with colleagues. I have just completed the Edinburgh Learns course on Leading Empowering and Impactful Professional Learning so I can continue to plan and deliver professional learning and provide opportunities to discuss, share and try new things in our school. This will help us in our journey to provide excellent learning experiences that our young people deserve and thrive on.

So, if you are thinking of signing up for the Middle Leaders - Leading Change programme, I would encourage you to go for it! It has provided me with knowledge and tools to grow my own leadership skills and to lead more effectively in my own school.