Thriving Schools: The Role of Middle Leadership During Change

European Academy (EA; a pseudonym) has recently become authorised as an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, with full implementation of the Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP), and Career-related Programme (CP) in addition to the Diploma Programme (DP) which has already been in place for 25 years. This Dissertation-in-Practice (DiP) presents a problem of practice (PoP) that addresses the sense of overwhelm associated with large scale change in schools and the approaches that mitigate cultural impact. This DiP is informed by EA’s legacy as an international school at the forefront of innovation which compels leadership to seek MYP implementation that is groundbreaking. Transformational and distributed leadership provide a foundation for the middle school principal in this DiP with Self-Determination Theory (SDT) providing direction to increase motivation. The urgency to maintain a positive school culture while fostering innovation clarifies the need to regenerate middle leadership and establish practices that are inclusive and generative. The 3-year action plan supports the change vision of the middle school principal: teams that are led by highly skilled middle leaders are more competent and connected, giving rise to innovative practice that sustains.