Communication in a High School Staff

A communication diary was used to gather data on the oral communication of a small high school staff. The data were analysed to gain information on the patterns of communication in the organization. It was found that communication concerning school policy was an important activity of teachers—more so, in fact, than communication of a private and personal nature. Within the school hierarchy high status persons ranked high in communication on personal and private matters. The most senior members of the hierarchy seemed to be isolated from the personal or informal communication net. The results appear to have some implications for the allocation of teachers to staff rooms.