ABSTRACT
Virtually all teachers have their own stock of horror stories about appointments they have been involved in where the outcome was predetermined. In the case of school staff selection, the principal piece of evidence comes from a research project, the POST project, funded by the Department of Education and Science and carried out by a team from the Open University. They studied the appointment of secondary headteachers in England and Wales between 1980 and 1983. Initially, they examined current procedures for appointment and then, as a piece of action research, developed new procedures which were designed to be both fairer and more efficient. There are many ways of handling the practicalities of participation in the preparation of a job description. It may be done as a group task, brainstorming on a blank flip-chart sheet and then discussing the result. The vacancy will have arisen either because of the departure of a teacher or because the staffing establishment is being increased.
