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CASE STUDY QN 1:  What are possible dilemmas here? What professional principles might be relevant, and at risk here? Who are the main stakeholders with direct interests/concerns? What are their respective interests/concerns? Whose interests/concerns should be accorded priority?  

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CASE STUDY QN 1:  What are possible dilemmas here? What professional principles might be relevant, and at risk here? Who are the main stakeholders with direct interests/concerns? What are their respective interests/concerns? Whose interests/concerns should be accorded priority?  

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CASE STUDY QN 2:  Elaborate on the best possible course of action to be taken together with the rationale. 

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CASE STUDY QN 2:  Elaborate on the best possible course of action to be taken together with the rationale. 

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CASE STUDY *BONUS* QN:  What general lesson(s) could be gleaned from this case study of the management of the dilemma? 

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CASE STUDY *BONUS* QN:  What general lesson(s) could be gleaned from this case study of the management of the dilemma? 

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Drop your lingering thoughts and/or burning questions here. Let's reflect on them, and revisit in our last session.

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Possible Dilemmas

1) the need for confidentiality vs the need for openness especially with regards to communication about the HOD's absence or lack of responsiveness

2) the need to address/balance both the HOD's and department teachers' needs

Professional Principles

1) Leadership Accountability

2) Fairness and Impartiality

3) Care

4) Integrity

5) Trust

Stakeholders

1) Department teachers -workload and accountability

2) KPs - may have to explain to their own department teachers on absent HOD

3) SLs - gossip from department teachers and perception on unfairness and biasedness

4) Students - especially when their timetable seem to suggest the HOD is teaching their graduating class but they are getting a BT

5) Parents - especially if their children feedback that they don't understand what the BT is teaching

Whose priorities matter

1) Teachers, especially since it affects morale and there is a lack of clarity in communications

2) Students (but can't really tell from this case study if there are any negative impacts)

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How to better manage

1) Proactive Comms by HOD or engagement by SLs if HOD is unable or uncomfortable in communicating - minimally to explain absence of HOD and how to move forward in view of absent HOD

2) SLs' intentional support for department teachers e.g. appoint a more senior teaching member to take on the role of subject matter expert and for level coordinators to oversee respective levels, or to make alternative arrangements to teaching deployment for affected classes based on SLs' understanding of the competencies of department teachers, e.g. look at past years' teaching deployment and teaching outcomes

3) Explore the type of support for the HOD especially if it is an issue that may be sensitive for the HOD (e.g. medical issues which SLs have to trust on the professionalism of the doctor)

4) Check in on department staff regularly e.g. weekly basis (hard to imagine a situation where there is only one Math-trained KP =P)

5) Check in with HOD on her well-being and to assess if she is able to help provide guidance on department matters where possible

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Personal Reflections

1) Importance of developing 2nd echelon - succession planning and identification of next-in-line

2) Team morale is important - especially in situations where there is lack of clarity and 'chatter' and where there is perceived lack of openness and lack of meaningful action/consequence by/from leaders

3) Team building and rapport is important - particularly when dealing with crisis and where team problem-solving is required e.g. when there is clarity and understanding (from open communications), there is greater likelihood that the team can band together to help solve the crisis and to put the 'chatter' to a stop, can also help to build trust through showing vulnerability

4) To build in additional support mechanisms for department staff taking on additional workload (especially when the time-frame of the absence is know). Such support could include no relief duties, temporary off-loading from other school/CCA duties, hiring FAJT or other creative means, where appropriate

5) It is better to prevent than to manage afterwards

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While one might prefer to withhold complete honesty about the situation, it's important to understand that this could affect the level of trust others will have in you.

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1) SLs and HOD should work together to:

Redistribute teaching load and other relevant duties to the rest of the dept

Decide on a suitable interim dept leader (ie, SH/ST/LT/TL) and speak to the person about their roles and responsibilities; if possible, further distribute the leadership to 1-2 other staff who can support the interim leader

Draft the comms plan to the dept staff, aligning the information to be shared/not shared, follow-up plan for the dept, considerations for the decisions made wrt interim leader, deployment, etc. Also take the opportunities to address any concerns arising from the session

2) In the absence of the HOD, a VP should continue to work closely with the interim leader to address any issues arising during the period of time, and also check in from time to time to ensure that the dept work is progressing as per normal

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1. Promptness in Comms is important so that we retain the control over the narratives, as it can affect morale and culture.

2. Comms Plan is important. Always work together with SLs and relevant KPs to draft comms plan, bearing in mind contexts, staff culture, etc, to deliver optimum outcomes.

3. Clarity in distribution of leadership during peace time, especially in a mature department where there are colleagues who are capable in leading different moving parts.

4. Know what is happening on the ground; provide feedback to manage instead of letting things fester and get out of control.

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If we avoid difficult conversations, we get ourselves into difficult situations.

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Another dilemma to add on:

The need to support the HOD vs The need to confront the HOD where there are indisputable shortcomings

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Dilemma

Students- Are the students' learning compromised? Esp since the HOD is absent. And also, the PD of the BT might be affected and this has an impact on his classes too as he may not have grown much in his T&L.

Staff- Morale of the department. As the HOD is frequently away, lack of clarity & direction. Teachers are more likely to do what they are familiar with and independently. Department growth is stunted as a result.

Monitoring & Review from Sch leaders' perspectives

Perhaps sch leaders might be able to step in either from the culture building perspective or getting someone to be in charge of the dept in the absence of the HOD.

What does care to the dept and teachers look like in this scenario?

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Deployment, Distribution of workload

SL should work with the department to re-look at department duties and even deployment, especially at graduating classes level.

Get the ST (same or different dept) to mentor and guide the BT, as well a more experienced teacher in the teacher to guide the BT(preferably teaching the same level)

Sch leaders shld address the whole dept to tackle culture building- how to move forward in the absence of the HOD. Try to appoint/ recruit an SH to re-build the bridge between MM and the department.

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To add on:

To give the heads up to the HOD before communicating and engaging the team of teachers. Rationale: for an open, transparent and principle based conversation

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To add on:

1. The psychology safety of staff to share with the KPs and SLs on their concerns and thoughts, instead of talking amongst staff

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How to maintain confidentiality/to protect an officer's welfare while being accountable to the department and the students. Would pairing the HOD with a BT be the best decision for the students? While the department is second guessing, the management could have stepped in to address any concerns, to provide a trusted environment for them.

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Possible action:

To work on the deployment of the dept /BT, balancing the needs of a graduating class with another more experienced teacher.

Speak to the HOD to let her understand what the management will be communicating to the staff, common understanding.

Speak to the teachers, understand their concerns and address any worries etc.

Appoint a covering HOD or someone else to oversee the dept for the time-being, perhaps VP could be the one assisting.

Conduct regular check-in with the department.

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Culture building and building of trust is important. I believe this wasn't establish right from the beginning when the HOD was already there. In a department or school with strong culture or care, most of the times colleagues would empathize and be fair and objective.

Being open in communication, to share and update, and it must be done in a timely manner so that staff understands.