This paper reports the results of a study that examined the ways a group of department heads in Ontario, Canada, describe their role. Despite their ubiquity and importance, department heads have been seldom investigated in the educational leadership literature. The study uses the metaphor as an analytic tool to examine the ways participants talked…

Many of the policy documents and much of the recent literature talk about "leadership" when discussing the role of headteachers and principals of schools. The word is also used when writing about other senior and middle managers. It is a way of showing the difference between what used to be expected of headteachers and what is expected…

This article provides a detailed description and analysis of how one Canadian institution used groups of department heads as change agents to address their most acute department head role tensions. It is demonstrated that this institution's change initiative aligned very closely to the recommendations proposed, in both the literature pertaining to…

In the light of recent challenges facing the field of outdoor adventure education in higher education, this exploratory study sought to identify some of the underlying political and institutional factors and societal influences on an international level that have led to the success of some programmes and the closure of others. Thirty-eight outdoor…

In this article, we investigate the change forces that act on administrators, subject department chairpersons and teachers as they seek to implement a change in a Canadian secondary school. Using a case study methodology, our analysis of the data uses Sergiovanni's (1998) six change forces: bureaucratic, personal, market, professional, cultural,…

Over the past few decades universities and colleges have undergone changes that have increased the complexity of academic managers' roles. There is some evidence now that these managers have come to experience significant role ambiguity, conflict, stress, and other negative effects--and that their wellbeing has been compromised. However, the…

Discusses the role of the University of Toronto's humanities chair in dealing with other disciplines at the university. (MM)

A study of the influence of academic discipline, sex and nationality on the definition of the role of the head of a university department indicates the importance of discipline, the coordinator or representative role, and the lack of influence of nationality on expectations. (JMF)

This paper presents findings of a study that examined outcomes of a professional-development program designed to help department heads in Ontario, Canada, facilitate change in secondary schools. Department heads in three schools in two Roman Catholic school districts in Ontario participated in the program. The heads were faced with implementing…

Policy goals are decided by governments, which are responsible to the public, not by planners or administrators. Once general goals are agreed on, however, it will take technical planning skill, administrative skill, and political judgment to reach them successfully. (Author/WM)

Over the last 2 decades, education in Ontario, Canada, has undergone several changes, including an increased emphasis on process skills and the learning process itself. This paper presents findings of a study that examined the role of the secondary school department head in the change process, particularly in curriculum implementation, staff…

Findings of a study that examined the nature of transformational leadership in 10 Canadian secondary schools are presented in this paper. Interviews were conducted with all of the principals and vice-principals and a sample of department heads in 10 secondary schools identified as successful in implementing change. This paper presents findings…

This resource booklet attempts to describe the new directions of the department head role. In a recent study by Kenneth Leithwood, "The Secondary School Department Head," 1987, department heads identified democratic decision-making, human relations, planning for program and staff development, and teacher supervision as functions crucial…

A survey examining the managerial, academic leadership, and advocacy roles of department heads in a community college, a technical institute, and a university in Alberta (Canada) revealed substantial variation among roles for the three institutions and the need for administrative skill development appropriate to different stages of service.…

The authors have adopted the stance that the position of the secondary school department head in Ontario is unique. This booklet is intended to contain some theory, but has been devised to be relevant to the everyday needs of the department head. It is hoped that the problems are stated in realistic terms and that the solutions to these problems…