Chapter 9 The Praxis of Leading in the Middle In this final chapter, the ideas and arguments set out previously are drawn together by conceptualising educational middle leading practices as a form of praxis. This has been noted throughout the book, now the purpose is to emphasise the moral and ethical dimension of middle leading practice, and that this is only understood in the actual doing of the practice. In that sense, in this chapter, the focus is not on theoretical understandings of practice per se, but rather on the actual unfolding of leading practices among the various inter-related conditions and arrangements that are apparent in any particular site (Kemmis & Grootenboer, 2008; Schatzki, 2002; Wilkinson, 2017). Therefore, as should be clear through the preceding chapters, and again here, there is not a notion of a unified and singular best practice when it comes to middle leading in educational sites, but rather middle leaders have to develop and undertake their leading as a form of praxis, responsive to the needs and practice architectures of their site. To ground the discussion, the chapter begins with a brief historical and con- ceptual outline of praxis and how it relates to the key concept here of practice. Then, once established, the notion of praxis is used to specifically consider and understand middle leading among the cultural–discursive, material–economic and social–political arrangements of educational sites. There are many dimensions of middle leading practice (indeed, all dimensions) where it can, and should be understood as a form of praxis, and this will be discussed by revisiting some of the key findings and arguments of the book. After this discussion, the focus will be specifically on practices related to staff appraisal and development, as these seem to have particular ethical aspects and consequences. Finally, the overall findings and claims of the book are summarised and revisited to draw the thesis of the book to a conclusion. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 P. Grootenboer, The Practices of School Middle Leadership, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0768-3_9 175