primary schools
secondary schools

PRIMARY SCHOOLS

research the context
negotiate your role
establish yourself in the position
remember the little things
don’t try to be superhuman
for extra support

As a new English Co-ordinator, you will have one of the most challenging and rewarding roles in the school. You will have the opportunity to provide leadership to a team of teachers working in a highly valued area of the curriculum; at the same time, there will be considerable pressure on you to ensure things run smoothly. In smaller primary schools, you may find that you are also responsible for the literacy program. There are a number of actions you can take to get started on the right foot.

Research the context

In any new position, especially if you are new to the school, it is important to

have a clear understanding of the context in which you will be operating. Before you get started, try to find answers to some important questions:

Negotiate your role

Your work will be more rewarding if you establish clear expectations of your role. Before you begin, you should do the following:

• Negotiate with the Principal a clear and realistic definition of your role. Your role will vary according to factors such as time allocation and number of teachers under your leadership.
  
• If possible, get a written description of your role. If a description does not exist, draft one yourself for negotiation with the principal.
  
• Clarify other, outside expectations.
  
• Find out how much of the compulsory professional learning time will be allocated to English.
  
• Find out how much staff meeting time will be allocated to English.
  
• Investigate other opportunities for professional learning, such as workshops offered by ALEA ,
  PETA , TATE and District staff.
  
• Establish a professional learning timeline for the year.

Establish yourself in the position

Show yourself to be well organised and aware of the needs of individual teachers. It takes time to build a collaborative team. The well known saying ”Think big but start small“ is a good one to heed:

• Set short-term, reasonable goals. Negotiate these with staff you are working with.
  
• Don’t be too ambitious. Do something small well and establish your credibility.
  
• Model the professional behaviour you would like to see occur among teachers. This should be evident in the ways you set up your classroom, teach, interact with students, oversee resources, deal with problems, etc.
  
• Don’t bring on major changes too soon. Ease the transition to your leadership by retaining the effective practices and routines of the previous leader.
  
• Identify the teachers who are most likely to be your allies.
  
• Identify teachers who may need extra support - for example, new teachers or those teaching out of their area of expertise. Have practical support ready for them - teaching units , successful lesson plans and good resources.
  
• Purchase current teacher resources, including computer software to support the English program and ensure that there is fair and equitable access to them.
  
• Negotiate the roles of others on your staff. Acknowledge their expertise and give everyone the opportunity to take on responsibility. You may be surprised at how willingly people will do this.
  
• Assess classroom resource needs in consultation with teachers and the librarian. If appropriate, organise a central location where resources can be stored and easily accessed.
  
• For resources to be well used, you need to inform teachers about what is available. This can be done in staff meetings. Display new resources in a central area, such as the staff room. You may need to have a restricted borrowing time for new or very popular resources.
  
• Develop networks with other co-ordinators and schools in order to share ideas.

Remember the little things

It is important to accept that your job will involve many "invisible" things. You will find that other matters will take up times you had set aside for administrative tasks. It is therefore important to keep the following things in mind:

• Recognise other people will call on your time — where possible, get your planning done out of school.
  
• Be accessible, listen well, and be visible.
  
• Organise the occasional social event such as a morning tea.
  
• Keep up your own professional learning through reading and attendance at workshops.
  Ensure that you are familiar with current texts published for children.

Don’t try to be super human

It is important for teachers on your staff to know that you have strengths and weaknesses. Everybody makes mistakes. Try to establish a team culture in which every teacher’s strengths are recognised and where teachers feel comfortable about asking for help. This will be a good sign that your leadership style is working well.

For extra support

Join a professional association , contact the English co-ordinator in a nearby school or become involved in an on line mentoring program.

SECONDARY SCHOOLS

research the context
negotiate your role
establish yourself in the position
remember the little things
don’t try to be super human
for extra support

As English Co-ordinator, you have one of the most challenging and rewarding roles in the school. You will have the opportunity to provide leadership to a team of teachers working in a highly valued area of the curriculum; at the same time, there will be considerable pressure on you to ensure things run smoothly. There are a number of actions you can take to get started on the right foot.

Research the context

In any new position, especially if you are new to the school, it is important to have a clear understanding of the context in which you will be operating. Before you get started, try to find answers to some important questions:

• Why were you given the role?
• Did others want the role?
• Who made the decision?
• What is the state of play in the English department? How smoothly is it working? Are people happy? What is the range of experience on the staff?
• How does the budget operate? Is there room for negotiation?
• Is English a priority?
• Who is your supervisor and whom do you ask for assistance and support.
• Does the school have an English curriculum document? If so, who wrote the document and when was it written. Is it time for a review?
• What are the resources like in your resource centre?

Negotiate your role

Your work will be more rewarding if you establish clear expectations of your role. Before you begin, you should do the following:

• Negotiate with the Principal a clear and realistic definition of your role. Your role will vary according to factors such as time allocation and number of teachers under your leadership.
  
• If possible, get a written description of your role. If a description does not exist, draft one yourself for negotiation with the principal.
  
• Clarify other, outside expectations.
  
• Get a copy of everyone’s timetable and room allocation.
  
• Find out how much staff meeting time is allocated to learning areas.
  
• Investigate other opportunities for professional learning, such as workshops offered by TATE ,
  PETA and ALEA.

Establish yourself in the position

Show yourself to be well organised and aware of the needs of individual teachers. It takes time to build a collaborative team. The well known saying ”Think big but start small“ is a good one to heed:

• Set short-term, reasonable goals, negotiate these with staff you are working with.
  
• Don’t be too ambitious. Do something small well and establish your credibility.
  
• Model the professional behaviour you would like to see occur in your department. This should be evident in the ways you set up your classroom, teach, interact with students, oversee resources, deal with problems, etc.
  
• Don’t bring on major changes too soon. Ease the transition to your leadership by retaining the effective practices and routines of the previous leader.
  
• Identify the teachers who are most likely to be your allies.
  
• Identify teachers who may need extra support - for example, new teachers or those teaching out of their area of expertise. Have practical support ready for them - units of work , successful lesson plans , good texts.
  
• Negotiate an agreed time for staff meetings and stick closely to this schedule.
  
• Negotiate the roles of others on your staff. Acknowledge their expertise and give everyone the opportunity to take on responsibility. You may be surprised at how willingly they will do this.
  
• Make sure teachers have easy access to paper, folders, sticky tape, disks, display material, video, etc.

• Recognise other people will call on your time — where possible, get your planning done
  out of school.
  
• Be accessible, listen well, and be visible.
  
• Organise the occasional social event such as a morning tea.
  
• Check the organisation of relief teachers at the school. Have a list of people you would
  prefer to be asked.
  
• Set up a file of emergency English lessons for teachers taking relief lessons.