Thursday, July 2, 2009

What's a Department Head to Do?


Sometimes department heads can get caught in uncomfortable situations between their administration team and the teachers in their department. Say, for example, a teacher is having serious enough problems controlling her classes that the VPs have taken notice. What can a department head do? Here's a Case Study that looks at what leadership styles might work best and outlines a plan to help solve the situation.

1 comment:

Rory Grant said...

I enjoyed your thoughtful case study Melanie.

In particular I enjoyed reading about your approach to leadership. The part about turning your vision into “a measurable object”, and carrying it out in “concrete tasks” is a sound dictum for any teacher to live by. With regards to classroom management intervention that you plan for your case subject Anita, I think you’ve developed a solid plan.

If ever this case happened in reality, one thing you might consider is scheduling a list of concrete changes that Anita could implement. For instance, in week 1 have her adopt a new seating plan and structure her lessons in a way that minimizes idle time. In week two, reflect on week 1’s changes, and adopt two further changes. Continue on this schedule until you see the results you were looking for. My department leader tried this with a colleague of mine 3 years ago and by her own account it was very helpful.

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