Middle Leaders’ Development in International Schools

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Justification of the Choice of Ideas
A Brief Definition of the Main Theoretical Ideas
Critical Literature Review
Conclusion
Reference List

Introduction

International schools are heterogeneous institutions that are characterised by diverse cultures, extensive student and parent systems, and detailed syllabus frameworks. This description paints a picture of the amount of work that senior administrators have in these educational centres. The overwhelming scope of roles and responsibilities calls for the need to invest in programmes that aim at boosting the professional development of middle leaders who have occasionally been required to undertake tasks, which they are not well qualified to handle. In the contemporary international schools setting, middle school leaders usually find themselves in ambiguous management situations in the course of accomplishing the prospects of various levels in their respective institutions’ chains of command.

They have to balance between various undefined roles such as monitoring learning while at the same time being actively involved in delivering their corresponding subject contents. Nonetheless, middle management practices continue to be observed among various school leaders, including ensuring that students not only get quality education services but also develop various recognisable skills and characters before completing their academic terms. Despite insignificant efforts being put in place to enhance the effectiveness of these mid-leaders’ participation, their transformation and distributive contribution to the overall school performance and conduct cannot be overlooked. Hence, it is crucial to critically examine the professional development of such school leaders, particularly in an international learning institution in line with theoretical frameworks of transformational and distributive leadership and middle management discourses.

Justification of the Choice of Ideas

The subject of middle leadership was introduced in the recent past following the observable transformations regarding the way interested parties viewed the role of instructors who operated within the mid-layer of a learning institution’s leadership chain of command. Many studies have been conducted addressing the role of transformational and distributive leadership in boosting organisational outcomes. In the current context, international schools will be used as organisations whose middle leaders (departmental heads, assistant principal, and subject leaders) can boost their managerial, teaching, and learning performance after being equipped with the appropriate transformational and distributive leadership skills. For instance, Creanor (2014) regards distributive leadership model as an essential tool that enhances innovation in learning and training. The article views middle school leaders as individuals who can benefit from this model because it emphasises the need for nurturing leadership qualities that have a bearing on their personal and organisational performance (Creanor 2014).

Regarding transformational leadership, Campbell (2018) presents this theoretical framework as a comprehensive mechanism that boosts middle leaders’ capacity to collaborate with their colleagues, including senior leaders. As the author reveals, this leadership model augments an organisation’s in-house effectiveness because it advocates for performance-based enticements that encourage middle leaders to deliver their mandates in an international school (Campbell 2018). In another study, Glaser, Stam, and Takeuchi (2016) present middle management as an essential role that entails linking all departments to the core leadership point in an organisation. As revealed in the article, middle school leaders not only “identify new opportunities emerging at lower levels but also help to overcome obstacles by mobilising support for initiatives from top managers” (Glaser, Stam & Takeuchi 2016, p. 1341). Hence, the existence of a huge body of literature materials addressing the theoretical frameworks under investigation informs the choice of the current topic. Although such studies may not be directly focused on the subject being discussed, their perspectives are sufficient to offer a thorough enquiry of the issue at hand.

A Brief Definition of the Main Theoretical Ideas

Campbell (2018, p. 278) defines transformational leadership as a collection of activities or behaviours that entail “role modelling, individualised consideration, and visionary speeches that target followers’ sense of purpose.” However, this definition is trivial because it does not capture the kind of behaviours that transformational leaders possess. Khan and Ismail (2017) seal this gap by revealing a set of behavioural patterns such as idealised influence, scholarly incitement, and accredited personality that constitute transformational leadership. Although studies by Odhiambo (2014) and Javadi, Bush, and Ng (2017) mention the positive contribution of distributive leadership in organisations and academic centres respectively, implying that they are aware of what this framework entails, they do not give an explicit definition regarding the model.

However, Creanor (2014) views the distributive leadership structure in an educational setting as the allocation of authority among various instructors whose ranks are below those of school heads. The goal of this headship configuration is to enhance the circulation of information, performance agendas, and manifestations via cooperative teacher-principal-student interactions. Glaser, Stam, and Takeuchi (2016) define middle management as a strategy that covers the whole idea of distributive leadership because it entails the move by the administration to deploy a team of people from within an organisation who are expected to link the head to various issues that transpire at class or departmental levels, including subordinate staff matters.

Critical Literature Review

Middle Management

Despite the existence of minimal literature materials addressing the issue of professional development among middle leaders at an international school level, Glaser, Stam, and Takeuchi (2016) provide a multilevel model that can be tapped to yield remarkable results. The framework is founded on the awareness that middle managers may fail to operate maximally following the usual behaviour of people evaluating the underlying risk behind any action before taking the initiative to address it. In the current context, such risks may entail the emergence of conflicts, especially when a middle leader decides to question why some teachers in an international school are not following the established teaching schedule. The model emphasises the issue of risk propensity as a character that reveals why some middle leaders may record astonishing academic outcomes from their personal initiatives in relation to their colleagues. Figure 1 below shows this model.

The multilevel model. — Figure 1: The multilevel model (Glaser, Stam & Takeuchi 2016).

The framework acknowledges the “linking” role of middle leaders whereby they help to facilitate various activities autonomously at different levels in an international school. Glaser, Stam, and Takeuchi (2016) did not test the framework in the context of an academic institution. Nonetheless, this observation should not be interpreted to imply that the model bears some weaknesses. Instead, the author is convinced that the roles of middle managers are analogous in all contexts. As a result, this model offers a practical mechanism that can be adopted to enhance performance in an international school. In particular, since middle school leaders act as linking points, “Personal initiative may help them to successfully reconcile top managements’ strategic directions with implementation issues surfacing at lower levels” (Glaser, Stam & Takeuchi 2016, p. 1341).

International schools acknowledge the contribution of middle leaders towards developing and nurturing a superior learning atmosphere that paves the way for better collegiality or teacher-teacher and teacher-student relationships and, consequently, outstanding overall institutional performance. In a study by Javadi, Bush, and Ng (2017), middle leaders are highly involved in professional areas such as classroom and resource administration, the establishment of appraisals, steering team building sessions, developing teaching schedules, and holding a coordinating position in addition to being subject heads. In line with opinions raised in Odhiambo’s (2014) article, these roles place middle leaders in a situation that needs further skills development to enable them to deliver their mandates effectively. Hence, they should be equipped with advanced knowledge regarding their responsibilities such as monitoring while at the same time gaining insights into how to boost their self-belief and proficiency in accomplishing their middle management tasks.

Although Odhiambo (2014) and Javadi, Bush, and Ng (2017) do not explicitly mention the subject of personal initiative, their perspectives agree with those of Glaser, Stam, and Takeuchi (2016) that this professional development agenda is a critical aspect from a middle management point of view. In fact, studies by Javadi, Bush, and Ng (2017) and Toop (2013) respond to the current topic from the context of an international school. Hence, their findings may be reliable. Nonetheless, they present middle leaders as pivotal stakeholders that are better positioned to detect, monitor, and address issues compared to senior administrators who are usually not as close to practical details as their counterparts (Javadi, Bush & Ng 2017; Toop 2013). Such crucial elements include syllabus management, data scrutiny to investigate underperforming students and the underlying reasons, class remarks, and ensuring that teachers are accountable and properly nurtured in their lines of operations. As shown in Figure 2, Toop (2013) believes that empowering middle school leaders in the contemporary international academic setting is not only essential but also inevitable because of their vital contribution such as:

Benefits of middle school leaders’ professional development. — Figure 2: Benefits of middle school leaders’ professional development (Toop 2013).

Transformational Leadership

Developing a professional development framework that revolves around enhancing middle teachers’ transformational and distributive management expertise can go a long way in ensuring that such leaders perform maximally in an international school. Borrowing from Harris and Jones’ (2017) perspectives, the suggested professional advancement should emphasise the significance of middle leaders’ competence in the contemporary learning setting, including the need for independence in their lines of operations. Studies on the contribution of transformational leadership to the overall performance of learning institutions are scanty, although various researchers such as Bell et al. (2016) reveal that indeed this management model can influence the prevailing academic culture. Having middle school transformational leaders may be a step in the right direction for international schools that have been struggling to revolutionise the prevailing strenuous culture that entails balancing the demands of diverse students, parents, teachers, and even non-academic staff members.

Although Campbell (2018) and Khan and Ismail (2017) specify behavioural aspects that constitute transformational leadership, the study by Bell et al. (2016) offers an advanced view that specifies the context into which this model is usually fruitful. According to these authors, transformational leadership satisfies the demands of present-day’s human resources who wish to be stimulated and empowered to thrive during periods of uncertainty (Bell et al. 2016). In fact, Skills for a Changing World (2017) is a recent article that confirms that indeed international schools acknowledge the uncertainty associated with modern-day learning environments following transformations brought about by technology, economic fluctuations, and even the global political atmosphere. This study emphasises the need for international schools to have mechanisms that can facilitate fast change implementation, although it does not address the transformational role of middle leaders. Nonetheless, its emphasis on the issue of “preparing a generation of global citizens who have the access, wisdom, and skills needed to work productively, participate democratically, and live contentedly in networked ways” (Skills for a Changing World 2017, p. 9) suggests that middle leaders in an international school have a huge transformational obligation of executing the desired change.

Such teachers need to be equipped with appropriate skills that can enhance their level of participation during change execution in collaboration with senior administrators who may not be fully available to monitor or assess the implementation process. In line with findings by Bell et al. (2016), facilitating middle leaders to acquire transformational headship skills such as honesty, emotional intelligence, compassion, modesty, communication proficiency, time management, and problem-solving expertise is a sure way that an international school will always succeed in its projects. Hence, although leadership opportunities are not well defined in an international learning institution, virtually all middle school leaders, especially deputy principals and departmental heads, endeavour to ensure that instructors from every level and centre give teaching and learning the appropriate attention (Bell et al. 2016).

Distributive Leadership

The distributive leadership model is founded on the understanding that the senior-most head should not be allowed to exercise the monopoly of managing a learning institution. Instead, the framework views leadership as a collective responsibility involving all other members in a particular hierarchy. A study by Creanor (2014) sought to examine the impact that this framework had on an initiative that included the entire leadership team of a particular university. The author’s findings depict that equipping the institution’s middle leaders with distributive expertise was a crucial strategy that enabled the entire chain of command to implement transformative changes conveniently (Creanor 2014). This study confirms the idea behind the model suggested earlier by Glaser, Stam, and Takeuchi (2016) whereby middle leaders facilitate the smooth execution of university-wide initiatives, which would have otherwise taken a longer time and cost to implement if left in the hands of the already constrained senior administration.

At an international school level, principals usually operate on a very tight schedule that leaves many of them exhausted and, consequently, unable to complete their tenure. Despite the inspiration that one receives by operating as the head of an international school, Speirs (2016) confirms that indeed the challenging nature of these institutions is responsible for the high turnover witnessed among principals. This finding indicates the lack of investment in advancing the professional levels of middle leaders in these organisations, a move that can reduce senior leaders’ tension, especially when they distribute tasks to various instructors down the hierarchy. Hence, distributive leadership comes in handy in facilitating the smooth operations of international schools. Van der Merwe and Verwey (2016) agree that indeed leaders encounter many challenges that require the intervention of other parties (middle leaders) to guarantee continuous and effective dissemination of services across all departments. The distributive management approach seems the best option for contemporary leaders, especially those holding senior positions in international schools. Unless they recognise the need for professional development among middle leaders, they may fail to offer effective support to their diverse stakeholders.

Conclusion

The impact of learning institutions’ leadership on the overall teacher-student-principal performance continues to attract heated debates from interested parties. Few literature works on leadership in academic centres have focused on the professional development of middle leaders in an international school setting. Such leaders who include heads of various school departments or overseers of their respective subjects play a crucial role in coordinating diverse tasks in line with the stipulations of a particular institution’s management agendas. However, as revealed in this study, the failure to recognise the need for professional development among middle leaders may be the reason why heads of international schools continue to view their positions as challenging.

In this paper, the subject of middle management was found to be critical in clarifying the linking role played by these leaders, despite the minimal emphasis regarding the extent to which they contribute to the ultimate performance and image of international schools. As suggested, equipping them with middle management expertise cannot be exhaustive without a mention of transformational and distributive leadership styles. These two models have been confirmed to influence the nature and quality of academic and non-academic services offered in an international school. Hence, regarding the issue of transformational management, middle leaders who are well equipped with the respective elements of this framework can help senior administrators to implement the desired changes to revolutionise these international institutions. Distributive leadership stood out as an extension of the transformational framework because of its contribution to ensuring that all stakeholders are involved in the implementation of the desired changes.

Reference List

Bell, T, Anderson, T, Conner, C & Severance, J 2016, ‘Does leadership style affect the academic performance of undergraduate business students? An empirical study’, International Journal of Business and Public Administration (IJBPA), vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 112-125.

Campbell, J 2018, ‘Efficiency, incentives, and transformational leadership: understanding collaboration preferences in the public sector’, Public Performance & Management Review, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 277-299.

Creanor, L 2014, ‘Raising the profile: an institutional case study of embedding scholarship and innovation through distributive leadership’, Innovations in Education & Teaching International, vol. 51, no. 6, pp. 573-583.

Glaser, L, Stam, W & Takeuchi, R 2016, ‘Managing the risks of proactivity: a multilevel study of initiative and performance in the middle management context’, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 59, no. 4, pp. 1339-1360.

Harris, A & Jones, M 2017, ‘Middle leaders matter: reflections, recognition, and renaissance’, School Leadership & Management, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 213-216.

Javadi, V, Bush, T & Ng, A 2017, ‘Middle leadership in international schools: evidence from Malaysia’, School Leadership & Management, vol. 37, no. 5, pp. 476-499.

Khan, S & Ismail, W 2017, ‘To evaluate the impact of transformational leadership on organisational learning’, International Journal of Research in Commerce & Management, vol. 8, no. 9, pp. 1-6.

Odhiambo, G 2014, Squeezed? The role, purpose and development of middle leaders in schools, Web.

Skills for a Changing World 2017, Meaningful education in times of uncertainty, Web.

Speirs, R 2016, The art of international school headship, Web.

Toop, J 2013, ‘Making the most of middle leaders to drive change in schools’, The Guardian, Web.

Van der Merwe, L & Verwey, A 2016, Building the corporate leadership community: creating a common purpose for and shared meaning of organisational leadership, KR Publishing, Randburg.

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