In this article, the authors focus on what is called "middle leadership" in schools in England and "middle management" in New Zealand. Their concern is that despite almost two decades since the introduction of site based management in both countries that devolved significant responsibility for the leadership of learning to those teachers in the "middle" of the school hierarchy, little is known about how this leadership of learning is exercised and how teachers might be professionally developed for this role. Here, the authors highlight six key factors that are integral to the leadership of learning: (1) leading learning occurs at all levels in a school; (2) a high level of trust, autonomy and respect for teachers' professionalism is integral to the leadership of learning in schools; (3) leading teachers and leading learning requires time, resources, and opportunities to build relationships and a professional learning community; (4) an ethic of care and a school culture that recognises and values the contribution of all individuals is important; (5) a culture of learning and achievement is possible in an environment that places high expectations on teachers and students; and (6) teachers should be encouraged to take risks and engage in innovative practices in their classrooms and in the leadership of their colleagues. A brief summary of each of these factors is presented.