The professional development needs of appointed middle leaders in education and training board, post-primary schools.
Year: 2020
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Professional Development is an intrinsic element to ensure that teachers are\neffective. It supports teachers to effectively evolve and adapt in their classroom\npractice to respond to change; in society, curricula and student needs. However,\nachieving high quality PD which simultaneously meets the needs of the teacher and\nthe school community is a complex matter and one which has been described as a\n“wicked problem” (Louis et al., 1999, p.56).\nWhen teachers assume an appointed, middle leader role, they have the potential to\ninfluence both policy and practice and are central to the implementation of new\npractices. This role requires an additional skillset to that needed by a classroom\nteacher. However, many teachers do not receive appropriate training or guidance\n(Irvine and Brundrett, 2016). Pressures from the top and the bottom of the school\nsystem make the role of ML a challenging one (Irvine and Brundrett, 2016) and\nspecific development and support is required to ensure MLs are to reach their\npotential (Fleming, 2012).\nA thematic literature review of relevant peer-reviewed literature from the past ten\nyears and seminal work in the field of middle leaders and teachers’ PD was\nundertaken for this study.\nThis pragmatic research involved exploratory sequential Quantitative > qualitative\nelements. The Quantitative research was informed by a set of five semi-structured\ninterviews that were used as an instrument development for the online surveys. It\nwas envisaged that the use of both methods would increase the validity of the\nresearch and provide a deeper understanding of AP1 post holders PD needs. The\nfocus however was clear; the quantitative data from the web interviews was\nparamount. The findings were subsequently presented to 10 post holders to verify\nthem and to gain further insight.\nThe development of MLs can be supported by five elements: career selfmanagement, principal support, provision of leadership programmes, supportive\nschool culture and clearly defined roles (Gurr and Drysdale, 2013). These needs are\nreflected in the findings and subsequent recommendations of this study.
Author: Siobhán Kavanagh
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3113674184