Leadership for school improvement: The role of the Head of Department in UK secondary schools

The study examines the role of the Head of Department in UK secondary schoo ls in terms of its potential for school improvement. Thirty-two heads of de partment in secondary schools in Birmingham and Manchester were shadowed an d interviewed in order to identify: (1) their leadership and management sty les; (2) the sense of empowerment felt by each; (3) initiatives for improvi ng teaching, learning and achievement in their departments; and (4) obstacl es to improving teaching, learning and achievement. Four deputy head teache rs in the sample schools were also interviewed with the purpose of elicitin g their views on the role of the head of department in facilitating school improvement. The findings support the prediction that distributed leadershi p (or shared power) among senior and middle managers in UK schools still re mains rhetoric rather than practice and that there is a growing need for cu rrent middle management development and training provision to change radica lly if middle managers are to be supported as curriculum leaders and manage rs.