Primary School Headship: Towards a Job Specification

This paper sets out to examine and explain the reasons why there are relatively few female secondary headteachers in England and Wales. Research relating to women in management has been mainly qualitative, but the data on which this paper is based are drawn from a large scale questionnaire survey which was sent to all the female headteachers in England and Wales, and which achieved a 70 per cent response rate. The issues covered include: demographic characteristics: career constraints associated with domestic commitments; overt and covert discrimination in the workplace and the reasons that the respondents gave for their own success. The author concludes that despite minor changes, there is a continuing and high level of discrimination faced by women who aspire to senior management in education.     

Invisible barriers: the career progress of women secondary school principals in Greece

This paper examines the career progress of female principals in Greek secondary schools and the under‐representation of women in management positions. Drawing on in‐depth interviews with six women principals in Athens, the paper considers the factors affecting women's participation in school management. The findings demonstrate that women are greatly under‐represented in secondary school management positions. The main reasons for this disadvantage are personal factors, covert discrimination, gender stereotypes and constraints experienced through their socially defined roles.     

A study on the measurement of job-related stress among women academics in research universities of China

This study intends to gain an understanding of the sources of stress among women academics in research universities of China. Studies have shown that, compared with their male counterparts, women report higher level of stress in work/family conflicts, gender barriers and career development. Based on the results of this study, the following conclusions can be drawn about their particular stress experiences. Firstly, women academics perceived the demands for career development as highly stressful. The main career challenges for them include the need for renewing knowledge, lack of research productivity, and slow career progress. Secondly, gender related barriers increased pressure on women academics. These barriers are difficulties in getting into male-dominated networks, social stereotypes of women, and gender discrimination in promotion. Finally, women academics experienced more difficulties in fulfilling both academic work and family roles. The main conflict situations pertained to “performing both work and family roles very well,” “children’s education and future” and “lack of time to satisfy personal interests and hobbies.”     

When Promotion Ladders Seem to End: the career concerns of secondary headteachers

This paper considers the career concerns experienced by some comprehensive school headteachers when promotion ladders in teaching in schools apparently come to an end. Using career history data from 20 headteachers, 10 men and 10 women, the age and gender differences in the experience of career concern are illustrated. The concept of career in sociological analysis is examined and the linking of actions and structures in the formation of career patterns is demonstrated. It is then argued that, in a time of rapid educational change, new positions will be created and the rules defining who gets particular positions might be altered. In this way, the career expectations of, and new career structures for, headteachers could be developed.     

Married women and career: career history accounts of primary headteachers

This paper considers how the detail of individual life history and career biography can contribute to sociological understanding about women and career. Using career history material from married women primary and infant headteachers, the paper considers what were, for the women themselves, the structural conditions and the characteristics of the teaching labour market. This is followed by an examination of the variations in the attitudes and experiences of individual women to their work and to promotion in their careers. The paper argues that the study of career biography enables us to make the theoretical link between the structural conditions in particular labour markets and the meanings of career to individual women.     

Teacher Appraisal,Professional Development and School Improvement: a case study

The paper argues that in respect of the day‐to‐day work activities required in being a headteacher, and in the work relationships involved in running schools, the occupational culture of headship has changed fundamentally. Using the accounts of 20 headteachers, interviewed in respect of their career histories in 1990 and followed up by means of a postal questionnaire in 1992, the paper illustrates the changes experienced and identified by this group of heads. It is argued that a new headteacher is required; that aspects of educational leadership have diminished dramatically in the work culture of headship.     

The career plans of women

The impact of environmental forces and the interaction of occupational and family roles on career plans were explored in interviews with female vocational clients. Twenty unemployed women in career transitions were interviewed over a three-year period. The women were asked about their career plans at age 18, for the immediate, and the long-range future; the life events that happened and the effects these events have had on career directions. In addition, the women were asked whether they feel they are stuck or moving in their current job situation. Themes from the interviews affirm that role priorities for family and work have been shaped by socialization and changing opportunities. Many of the women, who felt unprepared previously to integrate occupational behavior in their lives, now report that the need for adaptability to work roles has become a priority.This research was partially supported by an award to the first author by the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission.     

The Experience of Secondary Headship Selection: continuity and change

This paper is about the experience of secondary headship selection. Using data from career history interviews with 20 headteachers, 10 men and 10 women, from two Midlands educational authorities, the paper demonstrates some of the different procedures and processes used to select headteachers. Then by comparing the experiences of the long‐in‐post and recently appointed heads, aspects of continuity and change in the headteacher role are explored. The paper argues that although the processes and the selectors’ perceptions of the appropriate candidates have changed, nevertheless other features such as gender, networking and reputing continue to be important aspects of the headship selection process.     

Australian academics: Career patterns,work roles,and family life-cycle commitments of men and women

Men and women who held a full-time appointment at lecturer level and above in Australian universities in 1988 were compared in terms of the career paths they had followed, geographic mobility, domestic responsibilities, work roles, and levels of performance as an academic. Women had more often spent a period outside the workforce or in part-time employment due to childcare responsibilities. They more frequently had followed their partners to another city or country, they more often had been a tutor (a non-tenurable position) before becoming a lecturer. The survey indicated that substantially more women than men pursuing a full-time career as an academic were combining substantial household labour and childcare with employment. However, even when number of children and ages of children were considered, there were no differences between men and women in self-rated performance in such academic roles as research, teaching, and administration. The results are discussed with reference to the question of why in numerical terms there have been so few women academics in Australian universities.     

An analysis of burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish special school headteachers and teachers,and the factors effecting their burnout and job satisfaction

This study explores issues of burnout and job satisfaction among special school headteachers and teachers in Turkey. The purpose of the study is to determine whether there is a difference between headteachers' and teachers' burnout and job satisfaction in terms of work status, gender and work experiences, and to analyse the factors effecting their burnout and job satisfaction. In this paper, a quantitative approach has been used: 295 subjects (33 special school headteachers and 262 special school teachers) responded to the survey. As the research instruments, the Job Satisfaction Scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory were used to measure job satisfaction and burnout levels in terms of the dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. The study results indicated that special school headteachers felt less personal accomplishment than special school teachers. However, there were no significant differences between headteachers and teachers on two burnout dimensions, namely emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and job satisfaction. In terms of gender, males have less emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment but higher depersonalization than their female counterparts. Females have higher job satisfaction than their male counterparts. In relation to their work experiences, more experienced subjects have higher emotional exhaustion and depersonalization than their less experienced colleagues, and also less job satisfaction than less experienced counterparts. However, more experienced subjects who participated in the study felt higher personal accomplishment than the others.     

Headteacher as a Pedagogical Leader: a Comparative Study of Headteachers in Sweden and England

ABSTRACT

This is a comparative study, drawing on data obtained from interviews conducted with headteachers, that compares the roles of Swedish and British headteachers as pedagogical leaders. For its analytical framework the study uses the qualitative research approach known as phenomenography and, in the context of the guiding legal documents related to education, examines the study's findings as frame factors and as tight and loosely coupled systems. Based on interviews with the study's subjects (five Swedish and five English headteachers), discernible differences were noted between Swedish and English headteachers in their roles as pedagogical leaders. Both groups are responsible for the administration and management of the school but, compared to the Swedish headteachers, their English counterparts have greater personal responsibility for the school's overall performance and are more focused on providing leadership in teaching and learning. In contrast, the Swedish headteachers had a greater separation of the two roles, with the headteacher taking responsibility for administration and leaving responsibility for teaching and learning to the teachers.     

Change and continuity in the work of primary headteachers in England

This chapter draws upon recent research into what a sample of interviewed primary school headteachers had to say about their role and work in the 1990s. Two common themes — the intensification of the work and their roles as school developers — are identified from their testimonies. In turn, three emerging issues are discussed: management and leadership, school improvement, and effective headteachers. These findings have in the last two years been shared with many other headteachers and their responses to these ideas have prompted some second level analysis and reflection which is the focus of the latter part of the chapter. While there are some changes in the work of headteachers, certain role orthodoxies continue. The most enduring characteristic is the pre-eminence of the headteacher. Yet this is the very feature which accounts for them feeling so pressured and strained and it may be the time when this most central of continuities needs to change.     

Twenty-first-century headteacher: pedagogue,visionary leader or both?

In recent years the UK secondary educational landscape has witnessed significant change, with the introduction of an ever-extending spectrum of competing government initiatives and policies. This has resulted in the steady erosion of the traditionally recognised role of headteacher. This paper presents the results of a practitioner-based study centred on the professional career journeys of a selected group of senior incumbent headteachers from across Liverpool, United Kingdom. The purpose of the research was to consider key features of difference in the headteacher role over a 30-year period. Five heads were interviewed about how they rose to headship and the influences and events that guided their career choices. Findings include acknowledgement of the requirement for self-directed career development, paucity of skills in preparation for headship, transformation in leadership models and the changing skills, qualities and qualifications required of contemporary and emergent headteachers.     

Studying Headteachers' Professional Lives: Getting the life history

In order to obtain a better understanding of how headteachers frame their professional lives, a comparative project was set up with a life history approach. A series of open-ended interviews were conducted where headteachers talked about themselves, their work, background, experiences and career. The article focuses on the modes of inquiry used in the study and explores alternative approaches to analysis, especially of content and form. Several methodological issues are discussed, for instance the production of data as an interactive and collaborative process of creating meaning, the central role of the research relations, dialogical analysis and how to move from separate individual stories to an analysis of headteachers' lives across different countries. As the analysis has unfolded, new questions have been posed about the comparative aspect of the project. At the beginning, cross-national similarities and differences were relatively straightforward and were found in the content of interviews. Since then, explorations of the form and structure of the stories have raised more complex juxtapositions. More recently, new questions have begun to emerge, such as about the nature and meanings of 'professional confidence' and its relationship to external accountability in national contexts.     

The Green Paper and Beyond: How primary headteachers see their deputies

This article reports the findings from interviews with ten primary headteachers on the roles, responsibilities and relationships of the heads and their deputies, particularly in the light of the 1998 Green Paper 'teachers meeting the challenge of change'. These heads were selected because their schools had figured well in the 'Performance Tables 1999: Key Stage 2 Test Results' and so should exemplify good practice. The findings suggest the following key characteristics for an ideal partnership between a head and a deputy: shared values and vision; close personal and professional relationships; clarity about boundaries; provision of non-contact time. Moreover, the article proposes a distinctive role for the deputy in an era of performativity: the 'leading professional' within the school.     

Personnel Management Strategies for Headteachers

This paper is intended for headteachers, prospective headteachers and others who supervise staff in schools. Drawing upon interviews and observations of executives over a number of years, the paper records a range of personnel management tactics which have proved effective in practice and which educational managers may find useful. Attention is given to the importance of and approaches to induction of new personnel, involvement of staff in managerial tasks, use of goals to focus the school's work, and techniques for communicating productively with staff. The paper also examines the importance and implications of managerial optimism and determination.     

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN FACULTY EXPERIENCES OF INTERPERSONAL CLIMATE AND PROCESSES FOR ADVANCEMENT

Gender discrimination in academia was examined by means of a climate survey at a research university, which asked faculty about their experiences, observations, and satisfaction within their work environment. Overall, responses indicated that most faculty felt satisfied with key aspects of their environment, and many felt they had experienced, or observed, little or no discrimination. However, among those who did report personally experiencing discrimination, there were consistent gender differences across all areas. Specifically, women were more likely than men to report that they had experienced exclusion by colleagues, inappropriate sexual attention from colleagues or administrators, demeaning or intimidating behaviors from students, colleagues, or administrators, and unfair treatment in processes of hiring, reappointment, promotion, or tenure.     

Headteachers’ readings of and responses to disadvantaged contexts: evidence from English primary schools

Existing research demonstrates the impact of context on school organisation and management, curriculum and pedagogy and on student peer relations. New developments in English education policy will devolve more responsibility for dealing with these issues to headteachers. Headteachers' readings of their contexts and the responses that they make are thus of increasing interest. This paper draws on interviews with eight headteachers of less advantaged English primary schools to explore how they understand and articulate the contexts in which their schools operate and how this knowledge is translated into strategies for organising curriculum, pedagogy and other school processes. These headteachers observed context through the lens of the behaviour of parents and children in relation to school, contrasting it with an assumed middle‐class normality. More critical perspectives on families' social and economic position or on the contribution of school practice to educational exclusion were largely absent. School responses were many and varied but, given the constraints of budgets, market and performative pressures, were unlikely to substantially transform the educational experiences and outcomes of disadvantaged students. We point to the continuing need for more contextualised funding mechanisms and policies to improve schools in disadvantaged areas and also, in the light of devolution to schools, to the need to develop mechanisms of support to headteachers to help them to develop critical understandings of context and to reflect on school process and practices in the light of these understandings.     

The female secondary headteacher in England and Wales: leadership and management styles

This paper reports on data relating to management and leadership derived from a survey of all the female headteachers in England and Wales. The quantitative data presented here are complementary to previous research on gender in education which has tended to be qualitative. The use of the Gray paradigms in the research instrument has allowed an empirical redefinition of the 'feminine' style of management, but the research confirms that the majority of the female heads use a collaborative and 'people-oriented' style of management. In addition, the key values promoted by the headteachers are related to achievement and respect for all.The headteachers generally make themselves available to staff and spend a considerable proportion of their time in school outside their office. They tend to encourage staff development, often through individual consultation, but only a minority make special provision for the development of female teachers. Male resentment of female leadershipwas found to be relatively prevalent and the majority of the women felt they had to 'prove their worth' as a woman manager. Despite the difficulties encountered, once the women had achieved headship, they were aware that there were advantages in being a woman headteacher. They reported the ability to defuse 'macho' behaviour, the benefits of being unusual and therefore singled out and the fact that girls, mothers and female teachers found them approachable. The relative disproportion of female secondary headteachers raises issues of equity. However, in view of the effective management style of the majority, the question is also raised of the potential loss of leadership to our schools.     

Suitable work for women? Roles,relationships and changing identities of ‘other adults’ in the early years classroom

This article explores some of the issues around the agenda for workforce reform as it applies to professionals who work in early years classrooms (4–7 year olds), who work alongside class teachers in supporting learning. Their changing roles, responsibilities and professional identities are examined through a small scale case study of four women, two nursery nurses and two teaching assistants, from an infants school in a suburb of Bristol. Their close professional and personal relationships with the six female class teachers with whom thery work are considered. Their stories are analysed for their significance as women whose levels of skill and dedication are undervalued in terms of career structure, salary and job security. Whilst contributing to the debates around the changing roles and the valuable work of teaching assistants, this research endorses the view that these professionals' voices are too often silenced in educational debates and in strategic decision making.