The science department has existed in its current form for approximately 100 years. If, however, we believe that departments are places in which science teachers can begin to understand and challenge why they teach the way they do, and the imperatives for change, then we must also understand the roles and responsibilities of the person charged with the administrative management and instructional leadership of the department: the chair.

In this chapter, we start by considering how the role and responsibilities of the chair have evolved over the past 170 years. Following this history lesson, we will move on to consider the work of Jeremy Peacock who, working from the literature on science chairs, has highlighted four important leadership capabilities for contemporary science chairs looking to enact instructional leadership practices in their department. Those capabilities are then brought together with leadership theory to explore the relationship between departmental and instructional leadership. Next, we will ponder the implications of the dominant current department structures on the leadership of the chair, before moving on to consider how chairs position themselves between the work of the department and the (often contradictory) requirements of districts and legislators. Finally, we will turn our attention to getting started on the road to reimagining the department.

This free sample chapter also includes the Table of Contents, Foreword, and Index.