The Role of the Head of Department: Some Questions and Answers

Summary

This article summarizes the outcomes of two series of evening workshops held at the University of Southampton Department of Education, and a third series at Bournemouth Teacher's Centre, which were set up to investigate what sort of functions a head of department should have, and how these functions should be carried out. Workshop members were drawn from a wide range of institutions, and arrived at a considerable degree of consensus on the three areas under consideration: the departmental meeting; pupils and staff; and the teaching programme and resources. The profile of the head of department which emerges is clearly that of a ‘democratic’ rather than an ‘autocratic’ type of leader, and the article concludes with a check‐list summarizing some of the characteristics of departmental leadership which the workshop members identified as desirable.