Consultant leadership—a new role for head teachers?

Abstract

Most school heads in England, especially secondary heads, once appointed remain in their schools until retirement. However, recent years have seen a considerable increase in opportunities for head teachers to undertake other forms of education-related work. The range of these new opportunities is examined with particular attention given to ‘consultant leaders’ and the growing role they are playing or will play in implementing government strategies, such as the New Relationship with Schools, the leadership strategy of the London Challenge and the National Primary Strategy. Drawing on a recent evaluation of the London Leadership Strategy directed by the authors, the paper examines what is known about consultant leaders and raises a number of issues that need consideration. As the importance of consultant leaders is likely to grow in the near future, there is a clear need for further research in this area.