by Stephen Farren
Standing on the shoulders of giants - that was my initial thought as I moved from the teacher’s room to my new space in the side office adjacent to reception - after my ‘promotion’ to the position of director of studies.
The handling of the physical displacement and getting to grips with that was relatively straightforward. The psychological change, on the other hand, took some adjustment as there are elements for which you can never fully prepare.
The clearest example was the silence that now descended upon entering the teacher’s room - a room full of the people who would have greeted me in an entirely different way pre-promotion. I was getting a taste of what my predecessors had experienced. Frankly, it stung a little. My journey had been different, I'd sat in that room for years, previous DoSes hadn’t, they’d been externally employed. I was one of their own – the teachers’, I mean – raised from the teacher’s room and in my naivety had thought the nature of my ascent would make a difference. Not that I didn’t believe there would be a price to pay for the dynamic shift - but did it have to happen so fast?
I remember sitting at my desk and thinking: ‘What do I do now? What kind of DoS do I want to be?’
The self-doubt - what the literature terms imposter syndrome - began to make its presence felt. What does one do in that situation? Well, I began to think back - fondly - to my time as a teacher, and I tried to recall what my previous DoSes had been like. The DoS exists, and teachers don’t often wonder about them in the same way that children tend not to consider their parents unless mum has caught them drawing on the walls…
I wondered, then - what had I learned from my predecessors? What could I take from them that would help me on my own journey?
This article is the result of those wonderings. I want to share what I thought, but to do so I need to protect the identities of the previous DoSes. While I’m sure they won’t mind my talking about things that are true and that happened, there is such a thing as modesty, and so I have hidden their names behind those of three giants from Irish mythology: Amergin, Grana, and Fionn.
Honest Amergin
Amergin taught me that honesty goes a long way. We work in a profession that can be volatile at times, so transparency on what hours are available in the short and long time is paramount. He always offered updates on hours, which I respected even when the ‘news’ wasn't good. This had a knock on effect as I was less likely to get frustrated or feel put out when the situation changed.
Honesty fosters understanding. I’ve adopted this and try to be as transparent as possible with teachers, whether they are permanent or only appear every once in a while as teaching cover. Like my predecessors, I’ve had to deliver bad news when, say, a student has cancelled at the last minute, and those hours are no longer available. When the relationship between the teacher and the DoS is built on sincere and honest foundations, the tremors that naturally occur are easier to withstand - and my experience has backed this up so far, with my teachers generally being understanding when there have been problems.
Also, an obvious point but being in constant contact with teachers creates awareness of what is happening regarding the company and makes it easier to make swift decisions - this is a side of honesty that is sometimes overlooked, but that is important to consider all the same.
Fionn and visibility
Fionn taught me the importance of visibility. Students (and teachers) need to see you. At my school, the DoS is responsible for assessing incoming students, and for providing a kind of student induction. While this is not something that all schools offer, I feel that it is extremely useful for students to know who the DoS is, and to feel that they are approachable.
During the induction I show the students where my office is and tell them that the door is always open (literally and metaphorically), to come by and tell me about their lessons, ask questions or simply say hello. I know that many DoSes do not have offices that are accessible for students - perhaps the office is part of the staffroom, and thus behind a locked door. But being visible makes the school feel more like an institution where students belong, and less like a business engaged in a transaction.
One way that I learned to make myself available is to follow Fionn’s example, and to loiter in the reception area when the students arrive. Most schools will have group lessons that begin at roughly the same time, and the students will tend to arrive in their flocks. While I know that the more introverted DoSes out there will shudder at the thought, I do think it is worth waiting around, smile on your face, ready to meet and greet, especially in the early days of the school year.
Don’t underestimate the effect this can have. Students will stop and talk, and they will feel valued and seen. Also, if you end up covering a class, you will already have a fairly good idea of the students’ character and ability based on their previous interactions with you.
Your students will appreciate this too. Let’s say you have to cover for a sick teacher - the students would be stressed to find an unfamiliar face in the classroom, but if they have seen you, maybe even spoken to you before, they will be quicker to relax, and the interruption caused by the cover will be ameliorated, and the class likely a more successful one. If there are problems for any of your students - like a personality clash with their teacher - they are far more likely to speak to you early on (and thus give you the chance to fix the problem before it becomes a major issue) if they know who you are, and aren’t afraid to approach you.
Grana and leading by example
Grana had the biggest impact on my teaching. Her philosophy was to lead by example, with the emphasis being on student and teacher development. I'd always been pretty comfortable with observations and come from the school of thought that, done correctly, they are fundamental to development.
Grana took it to a different level in respect to what I'd been used to working at other schools. Feedback was a conversation rather than a dressing down. Her way of dealing with 'points for improvement' was to schedule a time when I could come and observe her providing a model of what she felt I could work on. This was just how she was, which leads to another thing I learned from Grana.
Authenticity is magnetic. Stand in your own shoes. Don't change who you are - though be ready to take a step back and breathe. Grana could be a little like magnesium, flaring up suddenly. It often didn't take much, and the impact in the teacher’s room wasn't always positive. Knowing her, I didn't take these moments personally because I'd lived such moments before and was aware that also like magnesium the flare up would die out just as fast. However, you don't always have the grace of time, and a flame still burns even if it burns out quickly.
Would I have preferred a less combustible Grana? Possibly. But if it had meant losing that authenticity, I think I’d rather live with the outbursts - which, let’s be clear, were never that dramatic. Things often feel more dramatic when they happen than they are, and with Grana I always knew that if a line had been crossed, there’d soon be an apology - and our working relationship would be quick to recover.
The DoS is a person - but don’t take it personally!
The final lesson I learned from these giants takes us back to the introduction and the anecdote about silence greeting my teacher room visits after becoming DoS. Don't take things personally. The silence in this instance, is the silence that greets a line manager, it's not silence specifically for ‘Stephen’.
Expect the silence. If you ask for staff feedback, but don’t structure the request in such a way as to ensure anonymity (and openness) of response, you probably won’t get much back. That’s not because you are asking, it is because the DoS is asking - and there is the crucial difference. And if you do ask for feedback, make sure to act on it, or at least address it - or you’ll soon find that your team starts to see you less as their lead member, and more as a kind of dictator.
I'm grateful to Amergin, Grana, Fionn for the direct and indirect impact they had on me as a teacher and the nuggets of wisdom/ behaviourisms I was able to adopt as I made my way as DoS. I wonder what my successor will write about me years from now…
Author Biography
Stephen Farren has almost 20 years experience in ELT, 15 of which have been spent working for IH. He has been the Director of Studies at IH Belfast since 2022, and has presented at several IHYL conferences.