Given the size of the staff and the teaching role of many primary heads and absence
of non-teaching time for primary teachers the primary heads were less likely to say
that they saw their staff by appointment, whilst nearly a quarter of the secondary
heads said that an appointment procedure was their choice. This is a further change
from the 1990s indicating a more 'efficient' approach in 2004, since in the earlier
surveys the use of appointments by secondary heads was rare, with the vast majority
of heads saying that they were more freely available.
The heads were also asked about the amount of time they spent out of their office
whilst in school. If they are claiming to be open, supportive and collaborative, it is
reasonable to suppose that they are not isolated in their office. With a potentially
greater teaching role, the primary heads, men and women spent more time out of
their office than the secondary heads. However, the men primary heads were a little
less likely to spend most of their time out of the office than their female colleagues.
This may represent the fact that men do tend to be heads of the larger primary
schools and the junior schools, rather than infant and nursery and may therefore
have a lesser teaching load.
Amongst the men and women secondary heads there is little difference in the ways
that they report that they spend their time. In each case the most common amount of
time they say that they spend out of the office is between 25 and 50 per cent and
there is little difference from the earlier surveys.
As the study was focussing on gender and its impact on headteachers it was relevant
to ask how the men and women heads encouraged their staff to develop their
careers. The importance of support and mentoring in the development of women's
careers has been noted earlier, and the heads were asked if they helped to develop
the careers of their women staff in any special ways.
How do you encourage teachers to develop their careers?
The most important way of developing teacher careers in general was through
appraisal and performance management, but courses and the use of short term
projects was also common. Mentoring was mentioned by about 60 per cent of all the
heads. Women secondary heads were more likely than any others to hold one to
one meetings with all members of staff and this had been a feature of how they
operated in the previous survey in the 1990s. The types of career and professional
development are much more varied and imaginative than those that were mentioned
in the earlier surveys, for example, visits to other schools, international visits, peer
group observation and the sharing of good practice are examples given by young
women primary heads. One woman head in her 50s identified: 'coaching/
observation/ acting short term roles e.g. deputy head has a week of being acting
head', another indicated: 'a culture of taking on responsibilities (many of which do not
carry responsibility points)'. Opportunities for practitioner research, taking part in
Master's courses and National Professional Qualification for Headteachers (NPQH)
and Leading from the Middle (LftM) were also mentioned.
How do you encourage women teachers in your school to develop their careers?
The heads were asked how they helped all staff to develop their careers to establish
the context within which women might be specially supported. As can be seen from
Table 21, at least half of all the heads say that they do not use any special ways to
develop women and this was the same response as in the 1990s. Of those that said
they did help women in particular, short term projects, women only courses and
mentoring were most often mentioned, although the women only courses were
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