ABSTRACT
Extensive research into teacher–pupil relations and pupil–pupil relations, there has been almost no systematic research into teacher–teacher relationships. Since teachers seem to be even more sensitive and resistant to research on teacher–teacher relations than to investigations of teacher–pupil relations, it is not surprising that few researchers have had the courage to embark on this difficult field. In the primary school where there is a small number of teachers on the staff there may be few differences in formal status. In a school with a head and three assistant teachers there is little scope for the formation of elaborate friendships and cliques. Typically, whilst there are often a few confirmed non-joiners in every staff-room, most teachers belong to several overlapping groups. Of major interest to the social psychologist is the effect of the autocracy on the relations between the head and the staff. With respect to the teachers the principal effect of the autocracy resides in their dependence on the head.
