The Changing Role of the Head in the Primary School in England

In the academic year 1987–1988 24 primary school Headteachers were interviewed about the appraisal of their managerial performance. In the course of the interviews the Heads discussed their perceptions of their jobs and what they perceived as the changing nature of their roles. They felt under considerable pressure to focus on the administrative and managerial aspects of headship and to reduce the time they spent in teaching. There was evidence that they found the non‐teaching tasks were increasing markedly in recent years in primary schools. They did not, however, appear to consider delegation of these tasks to other staff to be an appropriate strategy. This paper then goes on to consider issues surrounding delegation and collegial structures and makes recommendations about levels of consultation in primary schools.