A study of the extent to which the criteria of the TTA, Ofsted and the academic literature agree on what makes effective subject leaders in London secondary schools

This research examines the extent to which the TTA, Ofsted and the academic literature agree on the criteria on what makes effective subject leaders in London secondary schools. The role of subject leaders is an evolving one where they have to deal with the process of change. Many subject leaders were not prepared for the devolution of management and leadership tasks they had to undertake, especially as a result of the ERA (1988). The three bodies, the TTA, Ofsted and the academic literature, all have an input in developing the role and focusing on what makes subject leaders effective. Despite having some, although limited, convergence on the effectiveness of subject leaders, they do emphasis different aspects of the role to the exclusion of others areas. The aspects they emphasise tend to relate to their individual functions and purposes. Lawton's five level model of curriculum control was the framework used for structuring the literature review. One of the central themes of the review is that subject leaders are expected to translate government policies to their departmental members to ensure effective teaching and learning takes place in their subject areas. Thus, this emphasises the important aspects of management and leadership that are central to the work of subject leaders. Particularly, this research highlights four key functions as the main responsibilities of subject leaders: management and leadership, quality of teaching, management of the learning experience and students' standard of achievement. These areas are common to the TTA, Ofsted and the academic literature. The Ofsted reports, on the other hand, confirm the continuing weaknesses in subject leaders' performance with respect to management and leadership functions. Subject leaders play an increasing role in school improvement at the departmental level. This study outlines the varying and demanding functions that subject leaders have to undertake without being given extra consideration for the work in the area of management and leadership duties they have to perform. These are mainly in the area of management and leadership. It concludes by suggesting that subject leaders need training for this demanding role therefore training providers need to collaborate on the content of such programmes.