ABSTRACT
The main management unit for delivering the 16-19 curriculum is the department, a group of staff responsible for the courses in a specific academic subject or vocational area. This unit is a natural expression and consequence of the compartmentalised approach to education and training and, at the same time, a strong factor in maintaining that tradition. In focusing their teaching on a particular specialism, staff identify with a group which has a shared enthusiasm and knowledge base and which provides them with both security and support. At its best, the department offers its members a dynamic context for deepening their scholarship and increasing their expertise. The wellbeing of their specialism becomes a common cause, manifest not least in the effort to recruit 16+ students onto the department’s courses and to provide a new generation of specialists.
