It is notoriously difficult to classify occupations as professions and to define professional work. Numerous authors have provided criteria for categorising occupations as professions but the judgement still remains a difficult one. Freidson (1991) is clear that professional work is Good Work. It has a moral purpose and arguably that sense of…

In an age of greater government control and direction of schools, and yet simultaneously a greater devolution of responsibility, there is an international literature suggesting that many in leadership positions feel so pressured that they are seeking early retirement, or simply not coming forward in the first place (e.g. Gronn, 2003; Fullan,…

Job satisfaction is an important issue, but remains a complex one as it is difficult to measure. A wide range of factors such as the working environment, its manner of organisation, demography and individual circumstances, etc., can substantially affect the level of job satisfaction attained by individuals. Job satisfaction and the teaching…

The Education Reform Act of 1988 introduced both a National Curriculum and a regime of inspection designed to ensure that schools were adequately meeting the demands of this curriculum. At the same time schools were being given greater autonomy through the increased powers of the governing body and open enrolment. Rather than add to the freedoms…

There is a growing trend for the composition of senior management teams to include fewer deputy headteachers (DHs) and more assistant headteachers (ADHs) in secondary schools in England and Wales. Part of the reason for this trend may be to offer more structured career opportunities for younger, able middle leaders who can then be rewarded…

The profile, status and funding of leadership development has risen dramatically both in the UK and internationally over the last decade. In England this has been denoted by the rise of national programmes of leadership development and the creation of the National College for School Leadership (NCSL). Although the original inception of such…

A recent study of middle managers in English further education (FE) colleges explored the concept of professionalism as displayed by the various types of manager in the study. The study tracked the shifting patterns of professional identity in the sector. Within any one college, individual managers may hold differing constructs of professionalism;…

This paper draws on emerging findings from a CfBT Education Trust funded research project, "From self-evaluation to school improvement--the importance of effective professional development (Sef2Si)." On the journey from self-evaluation to school improvement, the authors wanted to identify what schools do that works, how people help each…

In this article, the author shares her experience in setting up a secondary school. Firstly, the author sets the context for the school and describes the initial issues that arose. These issues are examined in the light of contributions from the school's senior management team and from reflecting on both his own experiences as a governor and his…

This paper briefly explores the experience of three schools working together as part of a Leading Edge Partnership with a sharp focus on the factors that appeared to help and hinder their collaborative working. The paper draws on an evaluation of the first year of the partnership undertaken by colleagues at the University of Leicester, in which…

This article describes the role of the head of department in chartered and statutory British universities, drawing upon five research studies carried out over the past eight years. It describes how heads are appointed, their main activities, their main problems and how the role compares in chartered and statutory universities. The role is a…

There has been a lot of research in recent years into the characteristics of effective departments, but very little of it covers the nature of effective subject leadership. A fundamental aspect of effective subject leadership is the question of how to bring about radical change. In this article, the author describes the investigation he made, as…

The National College for School Leadership (NCSL) Programme, Leading from the Middle (LftM), was introduced in 2003 and was designed to help improve leadership at middle levels in schools and to impact on the effectiveness of teams of teachers in improving pupil progress. This article is a report on an evaluative study of how the program has…

Reflecting on 30 years of working with many partners, the author offers some advice to those planning, especially for a first time, to research or write with others. In this article, he discusses when to collaborate, under what terms, and when to cease doing so. It assumes that working with others is, in principle, desirable but says little…

A great deal of emphasis has been placed on what was originally called school development planning and what is now more commonly known as school improvement planning. While attention is now moving to the strategic dimension the danger is to associate strategy with the mechanistic structures of the strategic planning approach. The key to successful…