**ENROLMENTS CLOSED**

An exciting opportunity exists for IEU members to participate in the new Middle Leadership Program (MLP), a collaboration with the Teacher Learning Network and The University of Melbourne.

The MLP runs over 18 months, (June 2024 to November 2025), culminating in a Professional Certificate of Middle Leadership. Courses are delivered online and in person, offering 30 hours of professional learning.

The MLP, which incurs no direct costs, will develop the skills of educators and build a generation of sophisticated school leaders. 

Session 3/6: Research and Practice

In this session we will consider the research findings of recent research projects conducted by Dr Pauline Thompson focused on middle leadership and how teachers can build a career in education. The first research project considered the leadership practices of middle leaders and how the middle leaders rated themselves. The teachers were then invited to rate the middle leadership practices of their middle leaders. Interestingly, there was a mismatch in these ratings particularly from teachers at different career stages.

This study provides insights into the needs of teachers at different career stages and what middle leaders can do to support these teachers. The second project considers the experience of and pathway to principalship for women in middle leadership. We will work together to unpack the findings of the paper 'Perspectives of women as they navigate their path to principalship in Australian secondary schools'. Given that teaching is a highly feminised profession, we seek to understand what can be done at a school and system level to support women to build a career in education.

Presenter: Dr Pauline Thompson