The leadership role of middle leaders in six selected primary schools in Singapore

© 2018 Dr. Hak Hiang KohIn the Singapore school system, school middle leaders (MLs) such as Head of Department, Subject Head and Level Head hold a formalised leadership role within the school organisational structure. They have responsibility for the operation of a department in their schools and they are part of the leadership team in many schools. When compared to school senior leaders (SLs) like Principals, the leadership role of MLs has received considerably less attention by researchers. This study investigated the leadership role of MLs in a sample of six primary schools in Singapore using a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology without an a priori theoretical framework. The perceptions of the leadership role of MLs were collected from SLs, MLs and classroom teachers using semi-structured one-on-one interviews. In total, twelve SLs, sixteen MLs and twenty-eight teachers from six primary schools participated in the study. The interview data were analysed using an interpretational analysis system adapted from Tesch (1990). The perceptions of all three groups of participants (SLs, MLs and teachers) were found to be similar. The perceived leadership role of MLs was found to be complex and multi-dimensional, with a situational aspect evident and required both leadership and management. The leadership role comprised fourteen leadership themes which could be considered as the core components of the role. The role description reflected much of what had been written about MLs and their roles in the literature. Comparing the ML leadership role description with the school and middle leadership literature indicated support for the presence of aspects of seven current leadership conceptions; instructional leadership, transformational leadership, moral leadership, participative leadership, managerial leadership, contingent and distributed leadership. It also highlighted that the simple conceptions of leadership might be inadequate to explain the leadership role MLs were enacting. The leadership role of MLs developed from this study confirmed the applicability of White’s (2000) CAMM leadership model and Drysdale and Gurr’s (2011) successful school leadership model to (middle) leadership practices that were located in the culture and context of primary schools in Singapore. Possibilities for further research, including the investigation of the ML role in other types of school in Singapore and the inclusion of other stakeholder groups in and beyond the school, were presented. Also presented were nine recommendations for practice that involved both system and school level initiatives