ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that white much has been written already on the role of subject heads, there is still room for a more detailed approach because in reality we still know very little about what middle managers actually do. Having first established the curricular context, notably the nature, justification and status differentiation of school subjects, Peter Ribbins then goes on to examine some of the key issues in the running of a department by detailed reference to an actual case study. In particular, much emphasis is made of the head of department’s task of monitoring the work of the department, a task which is neither easily achieved nor, apparently, necessarily accepted as appropriate.
