Decisional deprivation among senior staff in secondary schools

A survey of secondary school deputy heads and heads of science departments indicates that, despite the trend towards participative school management in recent years, there remain important areas of decisional deprivation common to both groups and that these centre on school finance. The areas of decisional deprivation and equil‐ibruim, however, are not apparently related to the management priorities of either group. A strategy is proposed, based on careful and detailed task definition, aimed at both reducing deprivation and enabling deputies and heads of department to play an even more effective part in school management than currently, suggesting that their management priorities, and those of their heads, require adjustment.