Survey of middle leaders in secondary schools
PPTA Te Wehengarua's Middle Leadership Taskforce surveyed members in early 2016.
The survey revealed that curriculum middle leadership lacks appeal to 40% of classroom teachers, and the reasons for this appear to be excessive workload for the time available, and remuneration levels which fail to adequately recognise the workload and levels of responsibility.
The initial attractions of the role are largely around increased influence over the curriculum, but curriculum middle leaders find themselves spending time on matters that are only indirectly related to the curriculum such as performance appraisal, digital developments, and quality assurance for NCEA. Pastoral care middle leaders, i.e. Deans, also report excessive workload and inadequate remuneration.
There are two categories of middle leader in secondary schools:
• Curriculum middle leaders: Heads of Faculty or Learning Area (HOF/HOLA), Heads of Department (HOD) and Teachers in Charge (TIC)
• Pastoral care middle leaders: Deans, Heads of Guidance.