Bringing purpose and peace-of-mind to the role of a Catholic school middle leader

Middle leaders play an essential role in schools but for many their position is characterised by tensions caused by ‘being caught in between or sandwiched between senior management to whom they were accountable … and subordinates for whom they had some functional and often moral responsibility’. Moreover, Catholic school middle leaders face increased tension because they are expected to actively support the Catholic mission and identity of the school. Unfortunately, contemporary leadership descriptions provide Catholic school middle leaders with limited insight about how best to manage these tensions. Thus, this article seeks to redress this challemging situation by providing a clearly articulated theoretical foundation that offers a coherent and manageable guide for the formation and practice of middle leadership in Catholic schools. As a result, this article provides clarity to all who have Catholic school governance or administrative responsibilities as to what should be expected of middle leaders so that performance responsibilities and accountabilities are appropriately aligned to enable the religious education dimension of the school to flourish.