Led by Dr Ryan Dunn from The University of Melbourne, the research canvassed the insights of 13 experienced principals who had been identified as particularly intent on fostering strong middle leadership, finding the need for ‘proactive talent identification’ is key.
Principals spoke about the importance of looking beyond staff who self-promote to spot potential amongst the ‘quiet leaders’ on their staff.
“When we spoke to the principals that were doing a really good job in this space, they were all really on board with ‘merit and equity’ (policy in selection processes), but they also acknowledged that there are some teachers that need to be not prodded, but encouraged, or just shown ‘hey, you know what? You’ve got some really good leadership qualities’.
“And that was a revelation for some of these teachers.
“A lot of the principals spoke about the quiet leaders, the ones that were really good in the classroom, had really solid influence, but weren’t necessarily the extroverts that wanted to do presentations after school.
“They were really good at picking up on who are those people and encouraging them…” Dunn explains.
This might look like prompting a teacher to apply for a leadership role going at the school or simply suggesting they engage in middle leadership PD so they can look to throw their hat in the ring in the future.
“I’ve got two of my leaders who are very quiet achievers, and never even expected to be tapped on the shoulder. It took for me to say ‘why don’t you try your hand at this?,” one principal involved in the study reports.
While this could be seen as showing bias towards particular staff, what was evident from the interviews was the deliberate efforts the leaders took to get to know all of their staff on a deep level in order to identify potential leaders, the research notes.
“I have to know my staff and know them well,” one leader said.
“I make sure to schedule my calendar where I can be involved in different team meetings, so there are many different ways we can identify them.
“I ensure I have ongoing conversations with my staff. These conversations provide insights into what career aspirations staff might have, the challenges they are experiencing, all the way down to finding out who is considering taking leave to travel.”
The study suggests principals are now less inclined to discount part-time staff from middle leadership roles.
Several principals revealed they scour for leadership potential by identifying those teachers who show excellent instructional practice.
One principal said they took stock of a number of factors, noting individual teachers’ student data, the nature of their interactions with colleagues, and their desire to develop themselves and others.
“I can see their impact through the growth data in their class. However, I can also see the incidental conversations they have with other staff members.
“I am very aware of the social circles within the staff and I look at those who step outside a social circle to offer support to colleagues,” they shared.
Dunn notes a peculiarity about leadership progression in schools.
“I’d sort of jokingly say this when I’m working with an initial teacher education student [who had] an interest in leadership and they’d say, ‘how do you move into leadership?’
“I’d say, ‘well, the odd thing in education is the quickest way out of the classroom is actually to be exceptional in the classroom’.
“So we’ve always sort of known that instructional leadership piece is really important…”
Also critical is to not discount part-time staff from middle leadership roles, Dunn adds.
The study suggests that a resistance to flexible work arrangements slows down career progression.
A 2024 study of 33 Australian schools found that only one permitted part-time teachers to be considered for all types of leadership roles.
The latest AITSL data shows some 26 per cent of Australian teachers are employed part-time.
Principals in Dunn’s study were open to flexible and part-time leadership arrangements – a shift in attitude that he says appears to have come out of the pandemic.
Roles that would have previously required a full-timer were now much more flexible, he says.
“There were principals that would have a 0.4 role, but they would [offer it as 0.5] and say that you can use half a day working remotely, knowing that they would have extra workload outside of their normal contact hours.
“So, they were quite supportive in making sure that they could get those part-time teachers to be able to engage in leadership roles. I think that’s fairly new thing that’s started to happen.”
As one principal said: “I’m really open to that [part-time leadership]. I talk openly with my staff about family leave or how having a family should never inhibit your aspirations.
“You shouldn’t have to be back full time to build your capacity or take on leadership responsibilities.”
More research is needed to unpack how principals best influence middle leaders, Dunn says, but micro-management is not the approach to go for.
“Middle leadership development requires a delicate balance between providing structure and support, while allowing autonomy and growth,” the researchers flag.
