Head Teacher
Subject Coordinator
Department Head
English
…at the curriculum coalface
Challenges, Opportunities, Rewards
Paul Grover
Charles Sturt University
Head Teacher English
A summary of recent research into the Head
Teacher role…
“Overall, there was a feeling that the head of
department position is ‘where the real work gets
done’, to use the words of one of those
interviewed, but that it is also a ‘pressure
position’.
The head of department occupies a key position in
secondary schools, with diverse and demanding
responsibilities above and below them, alongside
their own teaching duties.”
Steve Dinham
From an English Head of Department…
• “I give them the folders, the material and I think it’s
important to model for the staff. I won’t ask them to do
what I wouldn’t do myself”
• “work hard and people don’t want to let you down. I try
to maintain credibility – I’m the one who has no home room
and I take the bottom Year 10. I can’t switch off. I mark
everything and get it back the next day . . . instant
feedback. More of the others are doing it now as well . . . I
encourage the staff to write their own comments. Negativity
doesn’t exist. . . . I think leadership is about removing
obstacles.”
Research report, Steve Dinham
A focus on faculties…
Most effective features…
Least effective features…
 Open communication
 Command communication
 Low staff turnover
 High staff turnover
 Mutual trust
 Antagonism between faculty
members
 Collegial sharing
 Collaboration and
consultation
 Teaching/learning program
disjointed
Features of effective faculties 1
HSC Study by Ayres, Dinham & Sawyer (late 1990s)
1. Well organised, easy access to resources and
equipment
2. General sense of enthusiasm, vitality and goodhumour/goodwill
3. Faculty members love and promote the value of
their subject
4. Experienced teaching staff valued and supported,
and student-teachers welcome
Features of effective faculties 2
5. Up to date, well prepared resources, programs and
exams/assessments, booklets for students
6. Aim to give the subject/faculty a high profile within
the school – contests, events, displays,
newsletter reports, website presence etc
7. Faculty based PD – high support, high expectations
8. Connection with host discipline, e.g. English
teachers are active readers, writers, editors,
membership of professional association
9. Focus on specific purposes such as needs of
particular groups of students
Critical skills and critical issues…
A Head teachers require these skills:
 High level interpersonal skills
 High level organisation and administration
skills
 High level communication & academic skills
Critical skills and critical issues…
B
Head teachers face these issues:
 Being responsible to Senior executive, to Faculty staff
and to students/parents (‘caught in the middle’, ‘at the
curriculum coalface’)
 Being the ‘go to’ person and also ‘on your own’ – you
don’t have to sit down and work…the work comes to
you!- huge time demands…up to 60 hours a week
‘normal’
 Responsible for resources, programs, rooms, timetable,
budget, equipment, bookrooms, behaviour
management, curriculum, staff development,
assessment, programming, HSC/VCE and… the broken
door handle
Head Teacher real-life views of the role…
Expectations of the role and the reality encountered…
• Matched initial expectations (13)
• Problems with ‘people management’ (8)
• Underestimated workload (7)
• Lacked conflict resolution skills ( 6)
• Dealing with constant pressure (5)
• Interpersonal demands, pressures (5)
• Lack of awareness of aspects of the role (4)
• Parental demands, pressures (3)
• Imposed tasks, responsibilities (2)
• Enjoying more than expected (2)
Best aspects of the role of HoD…
• Working with staff (17)
• Capacity to exert greater influence within school (13)
• Capacity to initiate change (11)
• Rewards of team leadership (9)
• Serving students and staff (7)
• Facilitating success (7)
• Working with students (6)
• Sharing one’s love of subject (5)
• Freedom and discretion (5)
• Development of curriculum (5)
Worst aspects of the role of HoD…
• Lack of time (14)
• Constant workload and pressure (9)
• Under-performing staff (9)
• Compromising own teaching (9)
• Interpersonal conflicts, problems between staff (7)
• Tension between faculty & senior school management (6)
• Dealing with parental demands and complaints (6)
• Enthusing unmotivated staff (5)
• Imposed change (4)
• Imposed deadlines (3)
• Disciplining students (3)
Preferred workload - redesigning the role…
• Reducing HoD teaching load (13)
• Spending more time with staff (13)
• Reducing administration (12)
• More time on ‘core business’ (9)
• More time with students (5)
• ‘most free time currently goes in day-to-day running of the
Department, with not enough time to sit down with individuals’
• ‘management of people requires time ... People are pushed by
time’
• ‘shed administrative clutter’, ‘Less paperwork’
• ‘not nearly enough opportunity to arrange significant blocks of
time when Faculty staff get together to discuss pedagogy and
curriculum’
Personal HoD Leadership Style…
• Collaborative, consultative (17)
• Team player (14)
• Democratic, consensual (13)
• Keeping people informed, communicative (11)
• Recognising staff, positive feedback (10)
• Facilitator (7)
• Decisive (7)
• Available, approachable (7)
• Empower others, inclusive (7)
Steve Dinham
Recent research has shown that rather than being
“strong” and decisive, effective leadership is intensely
interpersonal, involving working with individuals and
teams to “transform” teaching and learning.
Leaders’ relationships with their “followers” have thus
assumed greater importance than the more technical
aspects of administration, management and decisionmaking.
It has been recognised that leaders need a sound
understanding of human nature if they are to lead
effectively. This is particularly the case in education
where so much of what happens depends on
collaboration, commitment, trust and common purpose.
Steve Dinham
Strategies for effective faculty
leadership
1
aware
2
inclusive
3
involved
•Shift language: ‘our’ faculty not ‘my’ faculty
•Be available – stop your work to support their work
•Seek suggestions for resources, events, improvements…
•Recognise and reward commitment
•Seek faculty feedback, act on agreed suggestions promptly
•Develop leadership skills of faculty team – devolve responsibilities and
encourage ‘risk taking’ and innovation
•Develop cohesiveness - events, celebrations, new equipment
•Fix/remove/install promptly – students & staff see things happen
•Manage yourself – sleep, exercise and workspace
•Make the faculty area a showcase for staff & students
•Keep the focus on students, curriculum & professional development
Efficient resource
organisation
Communication
systems in place
Programs of Teaching
& Learning in place
Faculty image across
the school promoted
Leadership
Management
Being an effective English Head Teacher
Trust staff to lead the
faculty in key
projects
Organise staff to work
in collegial teams
Articulate staff &
student expectations
and monitor progress
Subtle leadership by
modelling and
encouraging positive
values & practices
Study of effective Head Teachers
They exhibit, possess and utilise:
1. Openness to opportunity – see opportunity around them,
including seeing and grasping opportunities in mandatory
requirements
2. Positive attitudes – have outward-looking attitudes which are
contagious
3. Bias to experimentation, risk taking – prepared to risk time,
money and possible failure, and empower others to do the
same
4. ‘Pirating’; bend rules, procedures creatively – use the
system and push against administrative and systemic
constraints
5. Find pockets of like minded staff, foster collaboration –
rather than attempting to ‘move’ all staff simultaneously,
concentrate those who are talented and committed and
provide them with support (encouragement, time,
resources, professional development)
6. Develop and use productive external links – seek out and
foster mutually beneficial alliances
7. Show moral leadership – exhibit the characteristics they
expect of others and have a social justice agenda
8. Recognise all teachers are leaders – acknowledge and
foster the leadership of others
6. Invest in teacher learning – place a high value on teacher
learning and are prepared to fund staff development inside
and outside the school
10.Treat staff professionally – provide professional-standard
facilities and treat staff professionally, expecting a high
standard of professionalism in return
11.Assist, provide feedback, talk with and listen to staff – are
good communicators and listeners and provide feedback and
recognition to staff
11.Aware that leadership takes time – possess a long term
agenda and are prepared to work towards this; success does
not occur overnight
11.Build on what is there - identify and nurture the seeds for
change and school improvement
11.Find ways to achieve a common purpose – often using a
central focus, e.g., ICT, student welfare, philosophy,
curriculum change.
Steve Dinham
‘Difficult’ staff…
• However, these leaders are pragmatic. They know it is impossible to
gain unanimous support, approval and commitment from staff. Rather
than attempting to “move” all staff simultaneously, they concentrate
on those who are talented and committed and provide them with
support (encouragement, time, resources, professional development).
These “pockets” of staff may be within faculties or across the school.
They are empowered and encouraged by the Principal, who may
facilitate bringing like-minded staff together.
• There is a danger in this, in that some staff may be “left behind” or
be resentful and obstructive. As part of their risk taking approach,
Principals believe that the “contagion effects” of committed staff and
demonstrated success will bring some – but probably not all – negative
or reluctant people “on-side” eventually.
Steve Dinham
Personal and professional qualities
of effective Head Teachers
• Positive attitudes are contagious
• Intellectual capacity – educational, psychological,
academic
• Moral leadership
• Assist, give feedback, listen to other staff, mutual
respect, empathy, compassion
• High level interpersonal skills, a ‘servant leader’
• Generally liked, respected, trusted
• Knows, uses names, shows personal interest
• Available at short notice when needed
• Works for school, students, staff, education rather
than themselves.
Personal and professional qualities
of effective Head Teachers
•
•
•
•
•
•
Focus on students as people - personal,
academic, social
Teaching and learning the prime focus of
team, faculty/department, school
Creates and environment where teaching and
learning can flourish
Has consistency, yet flexibility
Moves deliberately, but carefully and slowly,
builds on what is there – always observant
High personal standards in appropriate
spoken and written communications
Visions and expectations
of effective Head Teachers
•
“Expects a lot, gives a lot”
•
Promotes clear, agreed, high standards
•
Standard/normal things are done well
•
Recognises student & staff achievement
•
Encourages a culture and expectation of success
Steve Dinham
• Leadership has been found to be important in creating
positive, innovative learning cultures and the facilitation of
quality teaching and learning (Review of Teaching and Teacher
Education, 2003, p. xxiv)…
• Research in a number of countries has demonstrated that
leadership is also a key factor influencing teachers’ occupational
satisfaction (Dinham and Scott, 2000), in turn, a powerful
determinant of teachers’ professional growth and the quality of
teaching and learning in a school.
• Finally, the earlier concentration on the Principal has been
broadened to include other leaders such as deputy Principals,
department heads and teachers themselves (Busher and Harris,
2000; Ayres et al., 2000). The focus of attention has moved from
leaders to leadership with the importance of delegation,
collaboration, trust and empowerment being increasingly
recognised.
Steve Dinham
Selected references
The Secondary Head of Department: key link in the quality teaching and
learning chain
Steve Dinham, Kathryn Brennan, John Collier, Alan Deece & David Mulford
(Australian College of Education, Quality Teaching Series - Paper No. 2, 2000)
www.austcolled.com.au
Steve Dinham research on Head Teachers
http://works.bepress.com/stephen_dinham/subject_areas.html
http://academic.research.microsoft.com/Paper/5947412.aspx
http://www.cybertext.net.au/antsel_2008/documents/Steve%20Dinham_day2.
pdf
Features of a quality English department (New Zealand)
http://englishonline.tki.org.nz/English-Online/Teacher-needs/Professionalsupport/English-subject-leaders-page/Features-of-a-quality-Englishdepartment
Google scholar links collection – on the head teacher role
http://scholar.google.com.au/scholar?start=50&q=related:BzXLI43gNa4J:schola
r.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5
To receive this PowerPoint:
Paul Grover
Lecturer in Education
Charles Sturt University
email: pgrover@csu.edu.au
phone: 6051 9707