Middle Leadership in Schools A Practical Guide for Leading Learning

Middle leading refers to those teachers that both teach and have leadership roles, and thus can bridge the gap between the practices of learning and the managemant of schooling. Focusing on the practices of middle leaders, this book addresses the current lack of support and professional development for middle leaders in educational settings. Middle Leadership in Schools positions middle leaders as professional leaders, and an integral part of educational and professional development in schools and other educational institutions. Drawing on empirical research spanning four countries, this book provides readers with a conceptual framework to understand middle leading and shows how middle leading practices unfold in real educational contexts. This is a valuable resource that goes beyond a theoretical conversation about middle leaders to provide readers with practical applications based on extensive research undertaken by the authors. The book is divided into seven chapters, each of which include reflective discussion questions and recommended readings to promote collaborative engagement with the text. Chapters cover topics such as how middle leading is shaped in practice, its role in professional development and its impact on schools. Illustrating to middle leaders how they can develop their leadership skills, the book will also be of interest to school principals and other senior leaders as a guide to supporting their middle leaders.

Acknowledgements Foreword: Middle Leadership: Leading Professional Learning Leading from The Middle: Words from a Middle Leader Chapter 1: Leading from The Middle Chapter 2: Practices and Practice Architectures of Middle Leading Chapter 3: School-Based Professional Learning and Development Chapter 4: Relating, Trust and Dialogic Practice in Middle Leading Chapter 5: Evidence Informed Development Chapter 6: Middle Leading in Practice: Criticality and Impact in Schools Chapter 7: Middle Leading as a Practice Changing Practice Appendix 1: Facilitating Teacher Reflection: Questions and Strategies Appendix 2: Interactive Strategies for Facilitating Focused Reflection, Rich Discussion and Critical Thinking Appendix 3: Questions to Guide Evidentiary Talk in Professional Learning Conversations and for Individual Self-Reflection Appendix 4: Conversation Transcription Conventions Appendix 5: Supporting A Dialogic Approach: An Example from the Field - Teacher Reflection Questions Appendix 6: Learning Together through Action-oriented Professional Learning: A Guide to Collaborative Peer Coaching in the Classroom Setting

Peter Grootenboer was a school teacher and middle leader for 12 years before moving into the tertiary sector. He received a national Jim Campbell Award for teaching excellence. He is now a Professor in Education at Griffith University. Christine Edwards-Groves is Associate Professor at Charles Sturt University, Australia. She researches classroom interaction, dialogic pedagogies and professional learning, and is especially interested in practice theory. Karin Rönnerman is a professor in Education at the University of Gothenburg. Her research is in the field of action research connected to professional learning and development of practices through middle leading.