Do School Leaders Have a Shelf Life?

Abstract

This article explores several issues about school leaders, career stages and performance. It draws upon various pieces of research, including the longitudinal study of secondary headteachers which began in the early 1980s at the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), to raise some key issues about headteachers' careers, the various stages of headship, and the relationship between length of tenure and school leader performance. The article concludes with some thoughts regarding the future of headship and what needs to be done to ensure that the quality of leadership remains as good as it should be. If leadership at the apex of organisations is as crucial as all the research and inspection evidence suggests, then what needs to be done to ensure a longer ‘shelf life’ for school leaders and is the notion of a limited or fixed-term contract worth revisiting?

Keywords

career stages headteachers leadership development performance management

References

Clayton, J. (2001) ‘Sabbaticals—Expectations and Rights’ , Professional Development Today 5(1): 27–32 .

Crawford, M. and Earley, P. (2004) ‘Headteacher Performance Management: An Investigation of the Role of the External Adviser’ , School Leadership and Management 24(4): 377–389 .

Day, C. and Bakioglu, A. (1996) ‘Development and Disenchantment in the Professional Lives of Headteachers’, in I. Goodison and A. Hargreaves (eds) Teachers Professional Lives, pp. 205–227. London: Falmer Press .

DfES/Ofsted (2004) A New Relationship with Schools. Nottingham: DfES .

Earley, P. and Weindling, D. (2004) Understanding School Leadership. London: SAGE Publications .

Earley, P. , Weindling, D. and Baker, L. (1990) Keeping the Raft Afloat: Secondary Headship Five Years On. Slough: NFER .

Earley, P. , Evans, J. , Gold, A. , Collarbone, P. and Halpin, D. (2002) Establishing the Current State of School Leadership in England. London: DfES .

Flintham, A. (2003) When Reservoirs Run Dry: Why Some Headteachers Leave Headship Early. Nottingham: NCSL .

Flintham, A. (2004) ‘Postmodernist Portfolio People: Sustainability and Succession in School Leadership’ , Management in Education 18(3): 16–19 .

10.

Fidler, B. and Atton, T. (2004) The Headship Game: The Challenges of Contemporary School Leadership. London: RoutledgeFalmer .

11.

Fidler, B. and Jones, J. (2004) ‘Second Headships’ , Paper presented at the SCRELM/BELMAS research conference, St Catherine's College, Oxford, July, 2004.

12.

Gabarro, J. (1987) The Dynamics of Taking Charge. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press .

13.

Gronn, P. (1999) The Making of Educational Leaders. London: Cassell .

14.

Howson, J. (2003) The Relationship between Headteachers' Length of Service in Primary and Secondary Schools and Selected PANDA Grades. Nottingham: NCSL .

15.

Howson, J. (2005) The State of the Labour Market for Senior Staff in Schools in England and Wales. Haywards Heath: NAHT .

16.

Mortimore, P. , Sammons, P. , Stoll, L. , Lewis, D. and Ecob, R. (1988) School Matters: The Junior Years. Wells, Somerset: Open Books .

17.

National College for School Leadership (2001) Leadership Development Framework. Nottingham: NCSL .

18.

Parkay, F. and Hall, G. , eds (1992) Becoming a Principal. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon .

19.

Parkin, J. (2005) ‘Headteachers Don't Hang About’, Times Educational Supplement 14 January.

20.

Reeves, J. , Moos, L. and Forrest, J. (1997) ‘The School Leader's View’, in J. Macbeth (ed.) Effective School Leadership, pp. 32–59. London: Paul Chapman Publications .

21.

Ribbins, P. (1998) ‘On Ladders and Greasy Poles; Developing School Leaders' Careers’ . Paper presented at the Third ESRC Seminar, Milton Keynes, June.

22.

Weindling, D. and Earley, P. (1987) Secondary Headship: The First Years. Windsor: NFER-Nelson .

23.

Woods, R. (2002) Enchanted Headteachers: Sustainability in Primary School Headship. Nottingham: NCSL .