Adam Robbins Education

Yesterday I became interested in where leaders of T&L might place their time. So I did a poll on twitter and LinkedIn. Here are the results:

I was interested in how people would prioritise their time given certain, somewhat unrealistic, constraints. 

For me in these given conditions the only possible answer is ‘10 Heads of Department’ (HoDs). It seems roughly ⅓ of people agree with me. 

From my perspective the rationale is pretty obvious. Schools use distributed leadership models. HoDs are more than just logistical trouble-shooters and co-ordinators of their subjects. They are responsible for crafting a vision of great teaching in their subject and developing their team. This often means they have a responsibility to visit lessons and provide feedback and training to their teachers. As a leader on T&L they are my lynchpin. If they are not:

1. Capable of effectively observing lessons.
2. Able to identify the most important area of improvement.
3. Capable of delivering feedback that is able to be heard and acted upon. 
4. Teaching at a high level in a way that embodies our school T&L philosophy.

Then they are probably more of a brake than an accelerator on school improvement. 

Issues 1-3 are often resolved with training. This probably explains why observation and feedback training has been one of my most popular sessions to end a school visit on. 

Issue 4 is what I want to focus on today. 

I wonder how many HoDs feel they get seen as often as their staff? Who can watch them? Maybe they have a team leader observe them? Maybe their line manager?

Given their structural importance, if I want to drive forward teaching in a school I would spend all my time visiting the HoDs lessons. This allows me to both check their teaching is strong instead of just assuming it. It also allows me to model the rest of the process and build strong relationships with the HoDs. This trust will increase strong-ties diffusion of behavior within the school and build psychological safety. 

Reality bites

Obviously as a lead practitioner I’m very fortunate that I have time to see a lot of lessons. So in reality I don’t just focus on HoDs, I also try to watch SLT. That’s it. Unless directed or required, I focus my time on the heads of the snake. In the old Lincoln quote “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe” they are the axe. 

If you lead on T&L consider how you spend your time and how confident you are in the skill and effectiveness of your HoDs.

If you want some help get in touch, or there is a new book that might help 😉

Who watches the watchmen? You do. 

Image from Watchmen Graphic Novel (A.Moore & D.Gibbens)