ABSTRACT
In the changing culture of English school headship one of the major transformations historically has been from a general conception of the head teacher as moral leader to a general conception of the head teacher as curriculum and educational leader. The relatively strong autonomy for schooling in the 1960s and 1970s, when combined with an ampliftcation of progressive notions of curriculum and teaching reform, empowered headteachers to be radical agents of educational change if they chose to be so. While there were always constraints upon headteachers' cultural power, Pollard (1985) has argued that headteachers, especially in primary schools, enjoyed, 'very great autonomy over many aspects of teaching processes and curriculum decisions' (pp.103-4). Once the majority of primary schools in England were freed from the pedagogic constraints of preparing pupils for the 11 plus selective secondary examination by the late 1960s, innovative headteachers had the potential for radical change.
