Still Carrying the Can: primary‐school headship in the 1990s

The heads of twelve schools in the primary sector in an English county town were interviewed as part of a study of the influence of markets and market ideologies on the management of small‐service providers. Overall, the heads felt that their responsibilities were as great or greater than ever. There was considerable variation in the extent to which new approaches and business‐derived management discourse had been consciously adopted, but many of the practices were consistent with aspects of this discourse, although there was also a desire to retain traditional features of primary headship.