ABSTRACT
Historically, career progression in schools in England had begun with classroom teaching and then proceeded through middle management to school leadership posts. Successful, ambitious teachers with enthusiasm and commitment to classroom teaching found that if they wanted to continue to work in schools but also take on roles with more responsibility and better pay, they would need to become heads of faculty or department, senior teachers or deputy headteachers. LEA advisory teacher roles were another route, but fewer of these posts became available during the 1990s as LEAs restructured and reorganised their advisory and inspection services. It was often said that the net result of organisational structures in schools was that too many good teachers were being promoted out of the classroom.
