During my 15 year teaching career I have encountered a number of HODs some good, some great but also some truly awful. In January our Head of Department abruptly left and that vacancy has yet to be replaced, since then I've been thinking about what I would like their replacement to be like, below my wish list for attributes needed by any HOD.
Organisation: It is so important that a HOD is organised. What a team doesn't appreciate is not knowing what is wanted of them and not having a chance to be prepared. When you are having a departmental meeting why not send out the agenda ahead of schedule, your team can then prepare themselves for the meeting and you will get more out of them in return. Setting yourself an agenda also means that the departmental meeting will be useful and have less wasted time, no one wants to be in a meeting that they feel could have be completed over email. Furthermore, have your monitoring and evaluation schedule planned out at the beginning of each term, no one likes to feel they are being ambushed or surprised with a book scrutiny or lesson observation. This doesn't mean that you can't edit and change it but it does mean that you have one larger task out of the way and sharing it helps build trust and transparency in your department.
A vision/Plan: There is no worse feeling than being in a department that doesn't feel like it knows where it is going. What do you want the KS3 and 4 curriculum to look like. Get a head of the game and share out the planning of the work. Tell us what you want in each lesson, what you want the lessons to be about. The more detail given the better, no one wants to plan lessons that then need to be edited again. Furthermore, the department will appreciate that majority of their planning has been reduced and is then out of the way. Furthermore, setting out your vision with the rest of us means that they will come along for the journey, instead of feeling like everything is being made up on the spot, it just fuels confusion and resentment.
Empathy: I've never met a teacher that wants to do a bad job and therefore its important that you are understanding of any issues that arise within your department (without being lenient). If a teacher is struggling with marking, find out why they are, don't be a stooge and inform SLT leading to a "support plan". Protect your staff, your role as a HOD is there to ensure your take the pressure off of your staff. Work with your team in all your best interests not against them. We've all seen a HOD that would screw over their own department to get ahead and get in the good graces of an SLT that want rid. Work with your team and make them better rather than looking for the quickest replace which in many cases could be far worse.
Honest: Whilst empathy and protecting your staff is important don't hide the truth from them. It important that when there is a problem/issue in your department then it is addressed, don't allow your staff to bury their head in the sand. If a teacher isn't delivering lessons that you want or producing lessons for your team that aren't as good as you like, then speak to them about it, again no one wants to do a bad job and majority of the time they will be happy to address and work on the issue. Furthermore, if you hear that there will be spot checks and learning walks by SLT let your team know, its only fair that if you know they should know.
Communication: This is the number one most important feature of any good HOD and maybe the hardest to do effectively. Share things that need to be shared and will help your team develop. Discuss things in a caring and supportive way without feeling patronising. Plan your vision and curriculum and share it with your team. Let the team know about upcoming events, sometime they forget its your job to keep everyone on track.
Whilst these are 5 of thee most desirable features of any good HOD, we also know what we don't want.
The Horror Story HODS:
Mr Indecisive: Its important that you communicate and work with your team but also know that its important to stick to your own decisions. Don't let your mind be clouded with other people's voices make rational choices for your department.
The Gossip: Trust is so important in any good department. Your staff need to know that they can come to you with an issue that your not going to share it with the entire department. When someone comes to you with a concern or a problem don't share it with others, be professional.
The Manipulator: Don't try and control your department, don't promise things in a hope that people in your department do stuff for you. Don't take advantage of the keen NQT who is willing to do more than they should be.
Mr Disorganised: You've been told you need to order more stationary, make sure it gets done. No department wants to scrambling around borrowing stationary because you forgot to complete the order form.
Rereading this I understand how critical this sounds, the role of a HOD is a poison chalice, you get all the glory but open yourself up for all the criticism. I understand that the role of a HOD is a difficult job, I myself chose the pastoral route becoming a head of house rather than taking on the responsibility for a department.
