Navigating from the middle : enabling middle leaders in secondary schools in Jamaica

The recent educational reforms in Jamaica includes a focus on school leadership, specially school principals. However, the work of middle leaders in not addressed. The aim of this study therefore is to examine the role played by middle leaders in Jamaican secondary schools. This research uses a tripartite model consisting of professional leadership, school culture and micropolitics to explore how academic middle leaders in three distinct types of secondary schools are accomplishing their role and functions.;A methodological approach combining survey and multi-site case study provided both qualitative and quantitative data and offered the advantage of triangulation. Using a purposive sampling approach, six secondary schools were selected; three of which comprised the case study schools. Data were collected through self-administrated questionnaires to subject teachers, semi-structured interviews with principals and department heads, observation of senior management meetings, a survey of documentary records and interviews conducted with officers from the Ministry of Education. The data were manually and electronically analysed.;The findings indicate that whilst the academic leadership position carries numerous challenges, consciously or unconsciously, academic middle leaders have developed various tactical manoeuvres to combat or pre-empt the challenges they are likely to encounter from principals, colleagues, senior teachers and new members of staff. As such they are able to navigate from the middle, enabled by their ability to apply the skills they have acquired.