ABSTRACT
Reading the press, one gets the impression that headteachers are constantly in dispute with their local education authority. The names of McGoldrick and Honeyford spring to mind to substantiate the view that the relationship is acrimonious and contentious. The relationship with the Local Education Authority (LEA) which employs them is one of mutual cooperation marred only by the occasional wrangle over staffing, buildings and resources. LEAs vary in terms of the relationship between the advisory service and the administrative service. However good the working relationship with the officers, it is with the adviser or inspector that most heads will have their closest links with the authority. It is interesting to consider that the relationship between secondary heads and their adviser tends to be quite different from that between the primary head and the adviser. Not only are advisers frequently responsible for a large number of schools but the range of tasks is constantly being extended.
