Appointment to a secondary headship is seen by many in the teaching profession as the pinnacle of a teaching career. Is is certainly the top management post in schools. But how is the transition from teacher to headteacher made, what are the obstacles on the way and what lies in store for the appointed head? In Becoming a Secondary Headteacher, Julia Evetts examines the pocesses involved in developing a new career in teaching and becoming a secondary headteacher. Using the promotion experience of individual headteachers, she looks at the factors which can determine career progression and those which might hold it back. The issue of gender and headship is a recurrent theme in the book and Dr Evetts investigates the differing careers and headship experiences of men and women. The book goes on to examine the headteachers role in the current climate of self-management and self-determination. it looks at the current atmosphere of internal politics and the need to generate income, noth of which have increased the strain on school heads. Finally, Julia Evetts discusses the choices which lie beyond headship for a teacher who wishes to develop further.Becoming a Secondary Headteacher is essential reading for all teachers who wish to progress in school management, for headteachers, for governors and LEA advisers.
Julia Evetts is Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Studies at the University of Nottingham.