TESthink, educate, share

Who to speak to about issue with HoF?

Avatar

TES Workplace dilemmas - Forum

If you’re looking for advice and support to help you deal with your workplace problems then join the TES Workplace Dilemmas group. Topics discussed include problems with parents, teacher bullying, stress and disciplinary procedures.

Members 3353 Total Posts 25861

Who to speak to about issue with HoF?

  • post reply
    I get on with my HoF fine have a lot of respect for much of what they've done and had to deal with in the dept since I've been at my current school. She has been there a very long time and there are a number of issues not relevant to my current dilemma. Basically, we are supposed to be using ICT, developing co-operative learning and cross-curricular projects but, although she's very good at writing documents etc, she has a very traditional view of how pupils learn, even though we're in a challenging school behaviour and expectation-wise. Various members of the dept have suggested projects which have been rejected as they 'take us away from attainment' (but basically don't suit the HoF's style). Several of us are now feeling fairly cramped. It's not as easy as 'find another school' as we're in an authority with a lack of jobs in my subject. If we were to apply for anything outside the authority, we don't feel we could offer as much in the way of innovation or range on our CVas we'd like due to her controlling and restricted ideas on teaching styles. We desperately need to win pupils over to our subject but can't! Basically, who within my school could I approach with my concerns? The DH who is her line manager and is a lovely person I'd trust to keep it confidential? You may say it's not my place and who do I think I am - please don't. I think SMT are aware of the issue but I feel our dept is being sidelined... Thanks
    Posted
    Please join this group to replyReply
  • post reply

    Maybe the problem is that the HoF is a technophobe whose fear of ICT is getting in the way of what you are all supposed to be doing.  Her line manager should be checking that the documents produced do reflect what actually happens rather than exist as token responses. 

    Have you asked for the use of ICT to be a standing item on a faculty agenda?  Are there TLR holders in the faculty who feel the same way you do and who can be relied upon for support? 

    The DH sounds a good idea, but you need the support of your other colleagues as your HoF may see it as something else.   The DH has plenty of tactful ways of bringing this to your HoF's attention without involving you, e.g. in link meetings or more openly at the HoF's group. 

    Those who, for understandable reasons, seek to protect themselves can do more long-term damage than they realise.  It is your place to raise this.  After all, your own teaching experience, your professional development and the subject are affected and not in a way you'd like.

    Good luck.

    Posted
    Please join this group to replyReply
  • post reply

     Technology has moved on so fast that I also struggle to keep apace - at aged 55, I had never used a computer until I started teaching 17 years ago and even then it was only for simple word processing of worksheets, we even used a banda for copying!! Now I have to take registers, write reports, add all my marks, analyse data and horror of horrors, get to grips with the VLE!! Sometimes I spend more time hiding behind a screen than I do talking to the students - and as for powerpoints, save me from any more Inset Days watching jazzy slides which say nothing of any importance!  So no, I do not embrace all the new ideas instantly, I do not load up my homework onto the VLE and mark it there as I prefer to annotate a piece of paper! And just today I heard that it is likely that all staff will be getting I Pads to relace lap tops in September so I will have to get to grips with another operating system.

    Why not offer to be the IT Champion for your team and take the lead on developing all the initiatives? Your HOF might apreciate the support and it would look good on your CV if you wanted to apply for another job. 

    Now, where I have put my carbon paper, I need to make a copy of a report!! 

    Posted
    Please join this group to replyReply
  • post reply
    Thanks both for your considered replies. I have now spoken to a member of SMT who says that they were aware of some of the issues and they'll raise them with the HoF. I also made it clear that the HoF does a lot of good things and is very supportive (which is why I've been in such a dilemma about raising it). I don't honestly see things changing as the HoF can only see their own way of teaching working. The HoF is very good in lots of ways, and I'm aware there's a huge workload but a couple of us would just like the freedom to try new things - nothing outlandish, just the odd project or cross-curricular idea, rather than not be 'allowed' to if it isn't a prescribed worksheet - we're treated a bit like naughty children rather than professionals. Subscribing to certain websites is rejected because the HoF won't use them, although the rest of the dept is in favour. I do appreciate that at the end of the day, the HoF makes the final call, but the decisions are not in line with where our school is going and we are all tarred with the same brush, I think part of it is a control issue. The member of SMT saw exactly where I was coming from. Shy Anne, I have a lot of respect for good and experienced teachers. My previous HoF had been teaching for over 30 years and was more traditional in her teaching but had no issue with allowing the rest of us to develop our own styles as long as we reached the same end goal and followed the programme of work. I've been teaching 10 yrs and am not as whizzy with smartboard activities etc as student teachers. It's not specifically an ICT issue, that's just one aspect without giving too many details, and we have an ICT champion in the dept already. I still use a lot of 'traditional' methods and like to mark pupils books (well, not like exactly, but I expect to be able to see them, not have everything e-mailed), not are my lessons death by powerpoint. iPads sound a complete waste of money by the school/authority in my opinion. But I like to try groupwork activities as well as individual, try to make the learning more relevant by linking with other depts etc. Others in my dept feel the same way. I don't think new ideas have all the answers . My school has low levels of literacy and poor behaviour so sometimes pupils aren't able to cope with new ideas or the freedom of groupwork; we also have some higher achieving pupils who need challenge. I feel better that at least I've raised it and it turns out another member of SMT had talked to a colleague earlier in the week too. Thanks again, let's hope things start looking up.
    Posted
    Please join this group to replyReply