ABSTRACT
Since the imposition of the National Curriculum, the role of the subject co-ordinator within the primary school has become more significant, more specific and more involved. Post holders have increased levels of responsibility and accountability to colleagues, governors and outside bodies. Also, as Whiteside suggests in Chapter 3, the role of the co-ordinator is very diverse. It varies across schools from that of resource gatekeeper to planning and resource facilitator, to subject consultant and critical friend who works alongside other teachers in the classroom. Irrespective of how the role is perceived in your particular school, or in your area of responsibility within the school, it can be seen from the chapters in Part II that there are a number of common strategies which need to be considered when developing the role of the co-ordinator in order to make your work more effective. In this chapter we look at the most significant of these strategies: acting as a role model; auditing practice; action planning; and staff development. Finally, some specific suggestions are offered as to how you might begin the process of encouraging experimentation and change.
