| This article examines aspects of the monitoring role of academic middle managers in secondary schools since the implementation of the Education Reform Act of 1988, drawing on the perceptions of middle managers. The data were collected from a largescale postal survey of middle managers in three local authorities and three case-study schools. Middle managers acknowledge the need for management tasks, including the monitoring of colleagues' teaching, to be part of their role but still experience difficulties in fulfilling this task. One suggested cause of this difficulty is the fact that the departmental team is perceived by middle managers to be against the monitoring of its work. |