Impact of Postgraduate Qualifications on the Career Progression of Middle Leaders in Schools

Ben Archer

Abstract


With a highly competitive higher education market in Australia, there is a significant push for professionals to obtain further qualifications. While much has been written on the progression to Principalship in schools, there is a paucity of writing on the progression into Middle Leadership. A survey of middle leaders in Australian schools indicate that the skills learned in postgraduate qualifications are highly valued by people entering Middle Leadership, however, no impact is recorded in relation to progression into further leadership roles. This research has the potential to influence the career decision making of school teachers and leaders, as well as influence the marketing of postgraduate qualifications by higher education providers.


Keywords


middle leadership; schools; teacher careers; higher education; leadership skills

Full Text:

PDF

References


Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2020, June 2). Schools, 2019. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/education/schools/latest-release

Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership. (2017). Lead & develop. Lead and Develop. https://www.aitsl.edu.au/lead-develop

Bennett, N., Woods, P., Wise, C., & Newton, W. (2007). Understandings of middle leadership in secondary schools: A review of empirical research. School Leadership & Management, 27(5), 453–470. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632430701606137

Carter, A. (2016). Empowering middle leaders—Trends in school leadership research on the principal’s impact on school effectiveness. Australian Educational Leader, 38(1), 37–41.

Coen, D., & Vannoni, M. (2020). Where Are the Revolving Doors in Brussels? Sector Switching and Career Progression in EU Business–Government Affairs. The American Review of Public Administration, 50(1), 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074019861360

Daymon, C., & Durkin, K. (2013). The impact of marketisation on postgraduate career preparedness in a high skills economy. Studies in Higher Education, 38(4), 595–612. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2011.590896

De Nobile, J. (2018). Towards a theoretical model of middle leadership in schools. School Leadership & Management, 38(4), 395–416. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2017.1411902

Department of Education, Skills and Employment. (2015, February 6). AQF qualifications. Australian Skills Qualification Framework. https://www.aqf.edu.au/aqf-qualifications

Galdames, S., & Gonzalez, A. (2016). The relationship between leadership preparation and the level of teachers’ interest in assuming a principalship in Chile. School Leadership & Management, 36(4), 435–451. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2016.1209178

Giles, M., Ski, C., & Vrdoljak, D. (2009). Career Pathways of Science, Engineering and Technology Research Postgraduates. Australian Journal of Education, 53(1), 69–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/000494410905300106

Gurmu, T. G. (2020). Primary school principals in Ethiopia: Selection and preparation. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 48(4), 651–681. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143219836673

Harris, A. (2003). Distributed Leadership in Schools: Leading or misleading? Management in Education, 16(5), 10–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/089202060301600504

Harris, A., Jones, M., Ismail, N., & Nguyen, D. (2019). Middle leaders and middle leadership in schools: Exploring the knowledge base (2003–2017). School Leadership & Management, 39(3–4), 255–277. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2019.1578738

Hulpia, H., Devos, G., & Rosseel, Y. (2009). Development and Validation of Scores on the Distributed Leadership Inventory. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 69(6), 1013–1034. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164409344490

Jacob, M., & Klein, M. (2019). Social origin, field of study and graduates’ career progression: Does social inequality vary across fields? The British Journal of Sociology, 70(5), 1850–1873. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12696

Javadi, V., Bush, T., & Ng, A. (2017). Middle leadership in international schools: Evidence from Malaysia. School Leadership & Management, 37(5), 476–499. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2017.1366439

Lin Choi, P. (2013). Gender identities and career aspirations of middle leaders: Cases in Hong Kong secondary schools. International Journal of Educational Management, 27(1), 38–53. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513541311289819

Miller, P. (2016). ‘White sanction’, institutional, group and individual interaction in the promotion and progression of black and minority ethnic academics and teachers in England. Power and Education, 8(3), 205–221. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757743816672880

Moos, L., Krejsler, J., Kasper Kofod, K., & Brandt Jensen, B. (2005). Successful school principalship in Danish schools. Journal of Educational Administration, 43(6), 563–572. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230510625665

Neary, S. (2014). Reclaiming professional identity through postgraduate professional development: Careers practitioners reclaiming their professional selves. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 42(2), 199–210. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2013.869790

Notman, R. (2012). Intrapersonal factors in New Zealand school leadership success. International Journal of Educational Management, 26(5), 470–479. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513541211240264

Pashiardis, P., & Orphanou, S. (1999). An insight into elementary principalship in Cyprus: The teachers’ perspective. International Journal of Educational Management, 13(5), 241–251. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513549910286594

Scanlan, G. M., Cleland, J., Stirling, S. A., Walker, K., & Johnston, P. (2019). Does initial postgraduate career intention and social demographics predict perceived career behaviour? A national cross-sectional survey of UK postgraduate doctors. BMJ Open, 9(8), e026444. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026444

Syed, S., & Duncan, A. (2019). Role Emerging Placements: Skills Development, Postgraduate Employment, and Career Pathways. Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 7(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1489

Thody, A., Papanaoum, Z., Johansson, O., & Pashiardis, P. (2007). School principal preparation in Europe. International Journal of Educational Management, 21(1), 37–53. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513540710716812

Wakeling, P. (2005). La noblesse d’état anglaise? Social Class and Progression to Postgraduate Study. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 26(4), 505–522. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30036087

Wakeling, P., & Laurison, D. (2017). Are postgraduate qualifications the ‘new frontier of social mobility’? The British Journal of Sociology, 68(3), 533–555. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12277

Walker, A., & Qian, H. (2015). Review of research on school principal leadership in mainland China, 1998-2013: Continuity and change. Journal of Educational Administration, 53(4), 467–491. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-05-2014-0063

Yukl, G. (2013). Leadership in Organisations (8th ed., Vol. 1). Pearson Education Ltd.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.37905/aksara.7.3.781-794.2021

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2021 Aksara: Jurnal Ilmu Pendidikan Nonformal

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Publisher:
Magister Pendidikan Nonformal Pascasarjana Universitas Negeri Gorontalo
Jl. Soedirman No. 06 Gorontalo 96128 e-mail: jurnalaksara@ung.ac.id
http://ejurnal.pps.ung.ac.id