ABSTRACT
Nowhere has the influence of sociology and social psychology been more keenly felt in recent years than in its emphasis on the concept of roles and relationships. The quality of the relationships of those engaged in education determines in large measure the quality of the education they are able to provide. The corollary of this is that relationships may change as circumstances change; which may make it easier to accept the sometimes bewildering interplay of relationships that may occur in education. Within the education office it might perhaps be thought that traditional local government hierarchical relationships would suffice. The committee situation is one in which relationships between officers and members are of over-riding importance. Relations between officers represent a problem at least equal to that of relations between officers and members. To begin by looking at the education officer's relationships with his colleagues and his committees is perhaps to run the risk of introspection.
