Cuturally responsive middle leadership for equitable student outcomes

Middle leaders are important conduits for school policy and are often required to lead, champion and monitor change initiatives in their departments. This paper examines secondary school middle leaders’ self-reported theories, promotion and leadership of culturally responsive teaching approaches for student equity. The study participants (n=170) are curriculum leaders in state secondary schools throughout New Zealand, serving a range of diverse populations, including Indigenous Māori students. This study reports evidence of middle leaders perceptions of their culturally responsive pedagogy  through descriptive analysis of quantitative data and thematic analysis of qualitative data to understand the extent to which they believe their practice is effective in supporting Indigenous Māori students to gain success at school (Highfield, Webber, Woods,2024). The self-reported beliefs of middle leaders were then compared to the university entrance results of Māori students attending the school in the same time period. Middle school curriculum leaders play a critical role in the school hierarchy, which often includes responsibility for pedagogical leadership, the professional development of teachers in their department, oversight of curriculum development, and the close tracking of student achievement (Bassett, 2016). This research utilises intersectionality (Capper, 2015) as a tool to examine the potential relationship between the beliefs and CRP practices of middle leaders in secondary schools and the academic success of Māori students studying within the curriculum departments they lead. The quantitative and qualitative data for this project were thematically analysed and found that although middle leaders could clearly articulate culturally responsive, sustaining, revitalising pedagogies and leadership in alignment with government policies and expectations, they were less clear about the measures they used to evidence these practices. In addition, less than 30% of the middle leader participants mentioned academic achievement as an element of Māori student success, and few mentioned the importance of systematic monitoring of achievement data, or using it to support better learning outcomes for Māori students.

References

Bassett, M. The role of middle leaders in New Zealand secondary schools: Expectations and challenges. Waikato J. of Educ. 2016, 21(1), 97–108. https:// doi. org/ 10. 15663/ wje. v21i1. 194

Capper, C. A. The 20th-year anniversary of critical race theory in education: Implications for leading to eliminate racism. EAQ, 2015, 51, 791–833.

Highfield, C., Webber, M., & Woods, R. (2024). Culturally Responsive Middle Leadership for Equitable Student Outcomes. Education Sciences