“It Felt Like Anyone Questioning My Decisions Was Really Questioning My Competency”
First foray into Middle Leadership? Douglas Wise offers three key pieces of advice that he had to learn the hard way
- by Douglas Wise
I was a head of department for six years. By and large, it was a wonderful job. But it was also a really tough one.
So, if you’re a new head of department, or someone thinking about making a foray into the murky world of middle leadership, the post that follows this little preamble contains a few pieces of advice for you to consider so that you don’t have to make the same mistakes that I did.
When I was first in post as a head of department, I wanted – really wanted – my colleagues to like me. Still do. Who doesn’t want to be liked, right?
So, of course, in those early days, I thought that any questions about the decisions I made or the views I held were tantamount to criticisms about my competency. After all, new in post, who doesn’t suffer from imposter syndrome?
It’s so easy, in the moment, to react emotionally when you feel under pressure or insecure – during a presentation, at a meeting, after an observation – hence my first words of advice:
1. Embrace the awkward questions
Inevitably, there will be unpopular decisions you’re required to make and, equally, there will be issues that trigger widespread disagreement. This doesn’t mean that people don’t like you, and it’s not a knock on your ability.
This is something that I learnt over time (and it took me quite some time): challenge and debate are vital to the smooth running of a department.
In the moment, it can all be pretty stressful, but it’s so important. When those awkward questions are no longer asked – or when those thorny decisions are no longer challenged, and silence falls – that’s when departments stagnate.
2. Don’t hide in your office
It’s very easy to seek shelter and solace in an office. Shut the door, sit down, furiously email.
It’s positively blissful in comparison to dealing with the horrors that lurk in the corridors at lesson changeover times, or outside at lunch.
As a head of department, something I learned too late is that it’s important to be visible. Not in a cynical way – look how hard I’m working! – but in a way that’s reassuring to others.
Helping deal with recalcitrant students before they bundle into lesson three is vital; checking in on cover lessons late into the afternoon is essential, not matter how thankless a task it may be. Good heads of department get around.
If you ever want to perform a quick health check on a department (or, actually, a school), take a wander around and see who’s out and about, involving themselves in the unglamorous business of moving students along and providing assistance where it’s needed at the heart of the melee.
3. Remember that you achieve through people
It’s a truth well known that decent schools have decent teachers. And other stuff too, of course, but the point I’m slowly and clumsily getting at is this: good heads of department help to create the conditions in which their colleagues can thrive.
A wonderful set of GCSE results will always be the product of a team effort: they should never be overzealously claimed as a scalp by an individual alone.
In my experience, it’s always the case that the good stuff is achieved through others – not in isolation.
There are lots of things that heads of department can do as individuals to help things run smoothly within their domains though.
There’s the big stuff: intelligent curriculum design and equitable timetabling. And the little things: making meetings about teaching and learning and, for example, helping to provide good-quality CPD.
As I alluded to at the start of this post: teaching’s a tough gig. Rowing together is vital.
Douglas Wise is in his 10th year of teaching, having completed his PGCE in London in 2006. He’s currently the Head of English at Biddenham Upper School in Bedford.
Find him on Twitter at @DoWise and check out his blog at douglaswiseblog.wordpress.com
