ABSTRACT
A framework of analysis derived from Webb and Lyons (1982) and the work of Rosemary Stewart (1982; 1983) is used as a means to examine responses made by secondary head teachers in England and Wales to the increasingly sophisticated and complex tasks involved in managing staff. The opportunity of doing this was provided by data from a field survey conducted by Lyons and Stenning (1985). The context in which head teachers' actions are located, the knowledge and skills brought to the task, the differentiation of responses made by head teachers and the impact on others who share the head's role network, are all examined. The reader's attention is drawn to the flexible responses, sophisticated philosophy and the armoury of skills deployed in the coping strategies adopted by the effective head teacher.
