Moments of Revealing: An Authentic Inquiry into the Development of Middle Leaders in the Role of the Learning Specialist

In Australian schools, teacher development is often shaped by standardisation and top-down directives. This thesis investigates how Learning Specialists, middle leaders in Victorian Government schools, navigate and reshape their roles within these constraints. Using Stetsenko's Transformative Activist Stance and an authentic inquiry approach, the research positioned participants and the researcher as co-explorers. Findings ‘revealed’ that standardised PD restrict the agentive position of Learning Specialists in their development as professionals. However, through peer discussions, Learning Specialists found space to reimagine their roles. This thesis introduces the 'agentive connector' as a metaphor for relational and context-responsive ways of working, offering a new way of ‘knowing’ middle leadership.