Middle leadership for teacher learning in China: The significance of context

Abstract A growing number of studies show the potential influence of teachers with leadership responsibilities, that is, middle leaders, on teacher learning. The study reported in this paper focused on middle leaders in China who sought to enhance teachers' capacity across various school settings. Using Hallinger's (2011) synthesised leadership for learning model, we seek to understand the relationship between school context, that is, school organisation, staff and community characteristics and middle leaders' capacity to contribute to teacher learning. We employed multi‐case studies of 18 heads of teaching‐research groups (TRGs) in English, Chinese and Mathematics from six schools with varying profiles. TRG heads are middle leaders responsible for leading teacher development by guiding practice‐based research. Without imputing causality, the analysis reveals links among variations in middle leadership and school contexts. Our analysis of interview data found that middle leaders applied contextually sensitive combinations of leadership strategies and formed different structures with teachers and principals. Contextual factors impacted the variation in pedagogical foci and the breadth of leadership distribution. The study reveals specific practices associated with a specific school context where instructional climate, structural conditions and staff and community characteristics are particularly emphasised, contributing to theory development. The findings show that understanding diverse contexts provides a more nuanced understanding of middle leaders' roles and efficacy in China.