The Background
of the Research

A well-run school has active leadership
at the top which is controlled by the head teacher amongst other senior position
educational stakeholders. Their role is to establish the school’s scope of
direction, expectation, mission and the vision. However, this does not
underscore the role of middle-level leadership in schools since they are in
touch with the students and their purpose is to impart knowledge to the
subjects; in this case the students. Middle leaders are thus acknowledged as
the school’s engine where without it, regardless of the level of upper
management within any institution, learning would not be a success.  Middle-level leadership devolves leadership
into the classroom enhancing consistency in service delivery towards the
students ensuring that development gaps are filled.

Primarily, this research paper seeks to
analyze the impact of a decentralized system of educational management (UK)
towards a centralized system such as that of Greece. With a background in
History and Archaeology, an analysis of middle-leadership of UK school relating
to the Greek academic system would enable a deeper identification of the issues
affecting the latter. This scenario would create a solution towards quelling
these issues and moving Greek education at par with the British system
regarding middle management. It has been proven that middle management has an
integral impact upon schooling such as the fact that OECD data in the UK
displays a 75% achievement disparity between the advantaged and

disadvantaged
children may be attributed to their performance levels within a school
(Dimmock, 2012). This discrepancy is edged out through greater focus on each
student conducted through an exemplary focus on learning and teaching for every
department trickling down to every subject. These intricate details are
exceptionally high for the upper management such as the head teacher to deal,
and thus it is charged with middle-level management.

There is also an incremental need for
middle-leadership within educational facilities as they have been realized to
be the backbone of improved educational performance in the UK and thus should
transcend to Greece for the enhancement of their educational system. The Greek
system lacks strong middle management, and their system emphasizes the role of
the headmaster who is charged with a myriad of responsibilities. Thus, the
headmaster would not be in a position to handle duties that are supposed to be
in the hands of middle management. In general, the Greek educational system is
bureaucratic, and thus the roles of the headmaster are; establishing and
ensuring that the school’s vision is realized. Additionally, this method also
identifies and forms a school culture, to teach and tutor students, imparting a
good relationship between the school and the parents among other individuals
within the school’s macro environment. It is, therefore, impractical to expect
that a Greek headteacher would be in a position to conduct both middle and
upper-level management (Gravani & John, 2005). Consequently, it is
imperative to establish a middle-management structure as strong as that in the
UK.