Effective middle leadership cannot be achieved solely through teaching of competencies and theories of leadership and management. It must integrate skills such as collective knowledge inquiry and professional conversations. It is the presence of a collective order and coordination that is necessary for the development of an innovative and learning school.
In such a milieu, the process of learning is brought about by working on a collaborative curriculum project that involves inter-disciplines.
It involves the activities of participating schools, higher institutions of learning, government and support institutions, and external organisations and individuals.
This process is assisted by face-to-face contacts (lectures and tutorials), and virtual connections which is aided by information communication technology (ICT). The main assumption of using ICT is that the innovative school is not a predetermined entity within a local environment, but is created by the larger environment, with innovative behaviour dependant upon factors determined at the local, zonal and international level.
The learning environment combines social interaction and a reasonably sound innovation/technological culture with openness to the rest of the world, thus providing the best chance for school leaders to learn innovatively.