Supporting change in Polish higher education: Academic middle leaders’ perspectives

Abstract

This article reports a mixed-methods study examining 29 academic middle leaders’ viewpoints on supporting educational change in higher educational institutions in Poland. Following a three-dimensional conceptual framework emphasizing support at the individual, collegial, and environmental levels, Q methodology was adopted to collect and analyze data qualitatively and quantitatively. Four significantly different viewpoints were identified, respectively prioritizing (1) creating an institutional culture, (2) connecting people to form a support system, (3) supporting educators’ change readiness, and (4) supporting trust building. The follow-up focus groups, in addition to verifying the Q outcomes, identified a shared conceptualization of middle leaders as complex dynamic adaptive systems, despite their general lack of professional training for their positions. The identified consensus emphasized their shared concerns about a lack of institutional support, which echoes the prevailing research findings on university educators. The results also reveal a particular need for attention to pedagogical advancement, which has been historically neglected due to socioeconomic constraints. This study suggests broadening the scope of change, including higher education institutions’ policymaking, practice, and research, to provide systemic and systematic support to actors.