The move to faculty middle management structures in Scottish secondary schools: a case study

This paper looks at the move from a management structure based on discrete subject departments managed by subject specialist Principal Teachers within Scottish secondary schools towards groupings of subjects (faculties) with a single manager. This paper examines the impact of this change upon the experiences of students and probationer teachers. While the focus group is limited, it is the intention that this research will draw important conclusions about the wider issues involved in adopting flatter management structures, particularly for small subject departments.

Relevant aspects of key documents and local authority reviews of management structures will be discussed. The empirical work undertaken to inform this paper is a survey of probationer and PGDE students within the subject RE surveyed in January/February 2008.

It is therefore the intention of this paper to offer some conclusions about the benefits and flaws of the various models for secondary school management, particularly in the context of small subject departments.