The Composite Head
Coping with changes in the primary headteacher's role
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11160716 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mari Boyle (The Open University, corresponding author), Peter Woods (0000-0002-8705-3310, The Open University) |
| Year | 1996 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 549-568 |
| Publication date | 1996-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Educational Research Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0141-1926 • E-ISSN: 1469-3518 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0141192960220503 |
| OpenAlex | W1977637612 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 18 |
It has been argued that the role of the head has changed dramatically in recent years, following the introduction of the Education Reform Act and Local Management of Schools in 1988. A case‐study of a lower school headteacher is used here to explore how she has developed her own form of leadership in the face of the changes. In contrast to many accounts of headteachers, which report their practice in the form of typologies or bimodal polarities, we report a headteacher who has made a comprehensive, multivaried role for herself, despite conflicting elements within it, which reaches across the standard dimensions. The chief characteristic of her role is a universalism, evidenced in her self‐expression through teaching, her orchestration of disparate elements of the role, and controlled collaboration with her staff. She accomplishes this difficult task through objectifying the problems, taking ‘time out’, using ‘resistance humour’, and with the aid of a number of personal qualities, including her love of her job and of her children, her stance as a ‘professional mother’, and her motivation through feelings of guilt. The role of the headteacher is seen to be complex, full of conflicts and contrasts, and irreducible to a polarised position. Rather, there is adaptation to particular circumstances which produces a composite form of leadership
Coping (psychology) · Feeling · Head teachers · Pedagogy · Resistance (ecology) · Sociology · Innovative Education and Learning Practices · Literacy, Media, and Education · Psychology · Social Psychology · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
Burnout and Stress, Depression and Self-Esteem of Teachers
Teaching and guilt
Women teachers
Market Relationships and the Management of Teachers
Carry on Caring
Some Effects of the National Dispute on the Relationships between Head Teachers and School Staffs in Primary Schools
Teachers’ Culture in an English Primary School
Teachers and Texts
Schooling as a Ritual Performance
Curriculum Reform at Key Stage 1
Changing English Primary Schools
Policy and Practice in Primary Education
The Mother Made Conscious
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,17 |
| Citation span | 1996 - 2006 (11) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |