Do you have a JDF?
Not every HOLA gets a neat little document explaining exactly what their job entails. Perhaps you received a generic document that doesn’t take into account the size of your school or the complexity of your circumstances. Nonetheless, a good starting point for doing a good job is knowing exactly what your job entails.
Here’s an example of a job description:
As Head of Department you will to provide direction and purpose to staff, build team capacity and cohesion and promote an environment of positive quality learning experiences for all students. You will undertake an active role in the ongoing development and implementation of a positive and caring learning environment across the school. You will possess effective teaching, learning, assessment and behaviour management practices and a strong understanding of the Curriculum. Ideally, you will also show excellence as a teacher in a range of courses including those designed to cater for low literacy and students at educational risk, through to college-bound students. Additionally, you will have experience in improving teaching and learning outcomes through effective performance management, modelling and promoting a culture of improvement for success.
Pretty bland.
There are activities common to all HOD roles:
Implementing curriculum according to syllabus documents
Providing educational leadership
Analysing data and adjusting programs
Managing staff
Managing resources
Providing guidance and support on behaviour issues
Developing consistent practices within the Learning Area
Future posts will look at each of these and flesh them out. But what about your job at your school? Every school is subtly different and you need to ensure you are meeting the nuances particular to your role. A good place to start is the Business Plan. These probably have different names in different jurisdictions but each school should have a document that outlines the school’s vision and priorities over a one to five year period. This is a great place to start in trying to figure out where you need to focus your attention. Another method I highly recommend is to talk to your Principal (or Line Manager if they’re not your Principal). What does he/she have to say about your learning area? Have they identified any problems or issues? Do they want to see it go in a particular direction? This is an important conversation to have, even if you’ve worked at the school for quite a while.
My next post will be about taking all this and setting a vision for your department. Please leave a comment below if you think I’ve forgotten a key role for a HOD.
