ABSTRACT
Middle managers are leaders of departments or groups in secondary schools and they provide leadership from within the school. The following definition describes the leadership role:
’Leadership is a force that creates the capacity among a group of people to do something that is different or better. This could be reflected in a more creative outcome, or a higher level of performance. In essence, leadership is an agency of change, and could entail inspiring others to do more than they would otherwise have done, or were doing.’
(McKenna, 1991, p. 355) While the terms of leadership and management are sometimes used interchangeably, we see management as being more concerned with the maintenance of routine activities and tasks, of organising, planning, scheduling and communicating information. These are important aspects of middle management which are dealt with in Chapters 11 to 17. As McKenna outlines above, leadership concerns that capacity to influence a group of individuals to achieve specific goals.