Successful Middle Leadership In Turnaround Schools: Insights From China

• In Event: Teacher and Middle Leadership

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to explore how successful middle leaders can be part of an approach to transform low-performing schools in the context of the Chinese system. Interviews, participant observation, and documents were collected and qualitatively analyzed to categorize the major leadership practices and capture the nature of turnaround middle leadership in China. Five core themes, derived from the data, are presented that illuminate how middle leaders drive the development of schools in the challenging contexts. The findings reinforced the importance of middle leadership in diagnosing developmental needs and optimising conditions for the improvement of schools. The manner in which the findings can enable practitioners and scholars internationally to learn from the Chinese experience is discussed.

Author

• Jianjing Tang, The Education University of Hong Kong