The Beginning of my Leadership Reflection so Far

This is the leadership Model set out by the document Leading Through the middle. (Ministry of Education 2012)

Factors affecting the success of middle and senior leaders

There are a number of factors that influence the success of those in middle and senior leadership roles. These include:

• leadership and trust that emerges out of expertise first, not position;

• leaders’ support for and active engagement in planning how vision, policies, and practices are put into effect;

• a team culture, where the whole leadership team seeks opportunities to collaborate and actively cultivates and develops leadership capability;

• sound planning and resourcing of middle and senior leadership roles and activities;

• negotiated job descriptions that balance the management and educational leadership aspects of the role (Cranston, Tromans, and Reugebrink, 2004; Farnham, 2009);

• opportunities for leaders to engage in professional development and learning;

• school use of research evidence to inform change and develop practices that will directly or indirectly improve student outcomes. 

I feel that this is where my leadership journey began. I was promoted through my knowledge and expertise in the classroom. Now I look back and think at the beginning of my leadership I relied heavily on Systems and pedagogy and not enough on relationships/partnerships.

This is where I want to really investigate  and explore my leadership skills over the next few years. I want to ensure as a leader all staff feel motivated and supported as a team to raise student achievement. t