LEADERSHIP
Are you going for
your first middle
leadership post?
Worried that you
lack experience? Deputy
head Paul Ainsworth
offers his advice
ROBABLY ONE of the most dispiriting
P
aspects of any kind of job hunting is the
irony of trying to get a job without any
experience of doing the role before,
but being unable to get the experience
without already being in post.
For those of us who sought jobs
outside of teaching after graduation, one way of squaring
that impossible circle was to undertake voluntary work
experience in one’s chosen field.
When we first become a teacher such inexperience
is less of an issue, as a key part of our initial teacher
training is our teaching practice, so we do have some
experience of the role.
The catch 22 of needing experience does often arise
when you are looking for your first middle leadership
Are you
post. Many people describe leadership as developing
a vision which other people in the organisation help
you to achieve. At interview it is likely that you will be
expected to give examples of leading people. If you are
unable to do this, you may worry that you will come
across merely as a classroom teacher.
If so, you should be wondering how you can gather
experienced?
the experience of leading people.
One obvious method of gathering such experience
is to become a second in department, which is easier
in some subject areas than others. In many medium-
sized comprehensive schools, the core subjects are
likely to have a second in department, although in other If your school has a teaching and learning newsletter
subjects, many schools have flattened their management then why not write an article for it? Or you could
structures by removing head of faculty posts and offer an article to your subject association, such as the
Taking the lead: HTI
associated second in department posts, replacing them Association of Teachers of Mathematics?
with subject leader positions. Running a trip also shows how you can lead a
Also, if you wish to follow a pastoral leadership project but if you want to give it extra credibility then
route, it is unlikely to find such assistant posts that can why not make sure it is integrated within a section of
Getting the Go4it culture!
provide you with valuable experience. the scheme of work which you have written. Do not
Furthermore, if you are working in an independent forget to consider how the success of activity could be
school it is much rarer to find second in department monitored and evaluated.
Anne Evans
if only they were given the skills, guidance and,
not least, culture to do so. Mr Jones is particularly
posts and it is likely you will have to move straight from You may feel it is difficult to ask for opportunities
subject teacher to head of department. and one way of giving your requests added value would lambasts our
targeting teenagers who left school with few
qualifications, as well as those who might choose the
However, with a little creativity you will be surprised be if they formed part of an academic course. academy instead of A levels.
by the opportunities that you can find. What is important For instance, the taught Master’s in leadership and
narrow focus on
How often do we hear of phenomenally successful
though is that you focus your energies primarily on tasks management from the Open University encourages you individuals who failed academically? How many
that will support you in your chosen career direction. to develop small leadership tasks and then reflect upon
If your aim is to become a curriculum middle leader, them. At the beginning of your career you may also find
exam results. There is more
youngsters are we failing who are unsuited to
academic education, but who have the drive, ambition
then it is best to think about teaching and learning projects. it easier to continue study, rather than if you have taken
Are there opportunities in your department where you a break from academia.
needed to achieve success,
and passion to succeed in other ways? A recent study
by O2 found that obsessive optimism and obstinacy
could rewrite a section of the scheme of work? If you wish to develop your career through the are the drivers of success, rather than education. In
Many heads of department would be glad of such pastoral leadership route you could look for similar
she argues
the merciful absence of qualifications for either of
an offer. You need though to make full use of this opportunities. You could offer to develop a section for these attributes, what can we do to nurture them?
project. Could you offer to present your work to the PSHE scheme of work and provide training for It was also interesting to read that a rich offering
your colleagues at a department meeting? Would your your tutor team. You could look at the effectiveness GROWING UP ain’t what it used to be according to of extra-curricular activities seems to boost academic
colleagues then allow you to monitor and evaluate of your school’s behaviour management system or a myriad of recent reports. Children don’t trust adults. success. To me, the message is clear: a narrow focus
how effective it has been? Could you conduct a lesson rewards policy with a certain age of pupils. These They’re fearful of their peers. They can’t cope with on qualifications and exam results is by no means a
observation or moderate the work the pupils achieve? tasks are often successful projects for academic minor spats and squabbles. They are couch potatoes, measure of, or contributor to, a successful future.
These are all ideal experiences for you to describe in a study. deprived of physical activity. Their communication I mentioned earlier the importance of culture in
letter of application and discuss at interview. On a more practical level you could lead some year and interpersonal skills are lacking. They know the creating the right climate for developing enterprising,
If you feel there are limited opportunities in your assemblies or mentor a small group of specific pupils. price of every electronic gadget, but are clueless enthusiastic mindsets, not just in students but in
department, what about teaming up with a colleague If these pupils are of a different age from your tutor about the cost of life’s essentials. teaching staff too. This is a leadership issue, because
in another department and creating a cross-curricular group it will show wider experience, and again if you We had it so much better in the 1950s and 60s it is leadership that creates the culture.
project? Many teachers beginning their careers have evaluate the effectiveness you can discuss its value when childhood and growing up were as they should It was with culture change in mind that we
friends in other departments who are more likely to more specifically at interview. be, say the pundits. Well excuse me for being cynical, launched Go4it, our national awards scheme for
work with you. If you are imaginative, you will be able to come up but given recent global events it will be interesting to schools which demonstrate a commitment to
When I was an NQT, I organised a cross-curricular with lots of opportunities where you can develop your see whether this generation manages to make a worse fostering a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship
mathematics and English project which looked at a leadership experience. Do not be afraid of discussing mess of things than ours. I doubt it somehow. across every aspect of school life. That may include
footprint of a yeti-type creature. In maths the pupils had to your thoughts with the CPD co-ordinator at your school I have to say I feel a great deal of compassion for academic achievement, but we’re looking for a much
calculate how large the creature was and in English they as they may have ideas of their own too. youngsters, particularly during the current economic broader range of evidence, which frequently reveals
used this information for a piece of creative writing. In some ways, the summer term when your year downturn. Economic prospects may be looking itself in schools you won’t find at the top of the
A project like this can be done by a team of people 11 classes have left may be an ideal time to evaluate marginally brighter, but employment prospects look league tables.
or with just one colleague in the other department. your experiences so far and to consider what you feel is pretty bleak for young people leaving education this My goodness, though, they certainly engender the
To develop it further, colleagues could conduct peer currently lacking from your CV. summer. kind of obsessive optimism and drive identified by
observations of each other and consider different My best advice is that it is not the quantity of According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel the O2 study as essential components of success.
learning styles. tasks that you begin, but it is how closely they match and Development, nearly half of the UK-based Ten years ago Sir Ken Robinson launched his
Does your school run workshops where teachers your career aspiration, and what you learn from companies surveyed on their recruitment intentions seminal report, All our Futures: Creativity, Culture
offer sessions to the other staff? If you feel confident them. SecEd said that they were not planning to recruit those and Education, which said that there is more than
you could offer to run a session on something that has leaving school or college this year. one form of intelligence and that creative teaching
worked for you. Or you could ask if you can go on a • Paul Ainsworth is deputy head of Belvoir High School As I write, 16 and 18-year-olds are working hard and learning approaches are as relevant to maths and
course and then feedback your experience to the staff. in Leicestershire. to do the best they can in their GCSEs and A levels. science as they are to traditional arts subjects.
They view them as a passport to their future, which Creative approaches engage and excite young
of course they are – but only to a certain extent. minds and there is a growing body of evidence to
‘
In some ways, the summer term when
Faced with tough competition for jobs and university suggest that far from being mutually exclusive,
places, never mind a legacy of major global issues to creativity and academic attainment are closely
your year 11 classes have left may be an ideal
grapple with, they need more: they need the stand-out interconnected.
factor. And the stand-out factor is as much to do with It is not young people who are the problem. It is
time to evaluate your experiences so far
attitudes, behaviour and self-belief as exam results. our capacity to capture their imaginations and nurture
I was interested to read that the new National their natural latent curiosity and entrepreneurship that
Enterprise Academy, set up by Dragons’ Den is the challenge.
and to consider what you feel is
entrepreneur Peter Jones, has attracted more than five
candidates for every one of its 145 places. • Anne Evans OBE is chief executive of HTI, an
currently lacking from your CV
That tells me that young people are hungry for independent social enterprise working to develop
’
the opportunity to unleash their entrepreneurial flair, exceptional school leaders. Email a.evans@hti.org.uk
SecEd • June 11 2009 13
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