At the recent Mathematical Association of Victoria Conference, I facilitated a panel discussion with three Heads of Department (Mathematics) on the ins-and-outs of running a department.

We used google forms to prioritise the questions to be covered, and opened it up for questions towards the end. Following is the advice that came from the session.

Thanks to Bryn, Andrew, and Caitlyn for their participation on the panel : )

 HELPING TEACHERS IMPROVE

• Use student feedback to drive priorities
• Use school’s direction to drive priorities ß Key point: Alignment!
• Work with those already keen to improve, build momentum in this way
• Provide opportunities for existing teachers to share expertise that they have (take ownership).
  • Maybe encourage staff to present at MAVCON!
  • Dylan Wiliam provides a useful framework for sharing practice: http://www.ollielovell.com/errr/dylanwiliam/
• Get people to act their way into believing (Thomas Guskey’s framework)
  • See: http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_198504_guskey.pdf

HOW PRESCRIPTIVE ABOUT WHAT TO TEACH?

• Write out guides outlining teachers’ responsibilities
• Setting valuable defaults
• Using a framework, like Rosenshine’s principles, and interrogating it with the team
  • Tom Sherrington interviewed about Rosenshine’s principles on the Mr. Barton Maths podcast: http://www.mrbartcom/blog/tom-sherrington-rosenshines-principles-in-action/
  • PDF: https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Rosenshine.pdf
• Consider how you teach particular procedures within maths (eg., factorizing quadratics), and ensure consistency so that students, moving from one year to the next (or one teacher to another), aren’t confused.

WHAT’S THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE YOU’VE FACED AND HOW HAVE YOU OVERCOME IT?

• A good HoD isn’t necessarily someone who loves maths, it’s more about managing people!
  • Remember, ask ‘What’s best for the students?’
• Resources for managing people:
  • Viviane Robinson’s podcast on ‘Leading Change’http://www.ollielovell.com/errr/vivianerobinson/

• Leading Maths course through Bastow
• Books
  • Crucial conversations
  • Never split the difference, Chris Voss
• Podcast: HBR Ideacast

• Answer with questions (i.e., sometimes a good way to respond to a colleague's request is another question to prompt further thinking)

WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO USE MEETING TIME?

• Leave admin to the last point (so you don’t spend too much time on it).
• Remember, finish meetings on time
• Start with something to do with student learning
  • g., First 20 mins of meeting was spent reading an article on retrieval practice, or reading about Rosenshine’s principles of instruction.
• ‘Can we all shut our laptops because I’d like to have a discussion.’
• Use private discussions with people (before meeting time) to work out what is important for people in the team, these ideas feed into the meetings and prioritise what’s addressed in meeting time.
  • Ollie touches upon this in his interview with Craig Barton: http://www.mrbartonmatcom/blog/oliver-lovell-planning-running-a-maths-department-and-cognitive-load-theory/
• Google docs for agendas and minutes

MAKING THE LEAP INTO LEADERSHIP – ARE YOU READY?

• Take on some smaller roles within the team to build your skills.
• This is a great podcast on ‘making the leap’ into leadership
  • https://anchor.fm/naylorsnatter/episodes/Making-the-leadership-leap-with-Dr-Jill-Berry-e5o4mk