ABSTRACT
Managers in education, as elsewhere, are at the centre of conflicting demands. Demands are made upon their time by children, other staff, parents and people outside the school who think that staff with managerial responsibilities ought to be concerned about, or intervene in, some particular matter. The most significant change that has occurred in English education since the 1970s has been the growing tendency of the DES, followed more slowly by LEAs, to try to enforce particular views about the desirability of school activities. New classes, schools, options and equipment, the purpose of which was to cope with the additional children, actually offered extended choices and opportunities to the teacher. Enhanced opportunities, however, have to be converted into actions and these in turn must satisfy the need which created the opportunities. The effects of government or local authority decisions, changes in financial provision, and demographic and socio-economic factors are all potential influences on decision-making.
