Career as Teacher

To the HODs out there, I (M, 26, local u, non-scholar, 2nd upp honours) just entered teaching this year.

May I ask for advice on how to become a HOD? I would like to be HOD of an acad subj.
Also, if you don’t mind sharing, how long does it take for an average person to become a HOD?

Thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

To the HODs out there, I (M, 26, local u, non-scholar, 2nd upp honours) just entered teaching this year.

May I ask for advice on how to become a HOD? I would like to be HOD of an acad subj.
Also, if you don’t mind sharing, how long does it take for an average person to become a HOD?

Thanks in advance!

Make sure that your T&L is good. When you are given roles like subject rep etc do it well, facilitate discussion, show your ability to lead the team. Also, it definitely helps to be on good term with the HOD/SH.

Don’t sound overly ambitious and say that you want to be hod. You can, however, express your wish to your RO that you are keen to go for leadership track in that subject matter. If you have what it takes and there is vacant, you will go there.

It took me 7 years to get there.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

To the HODs out there, I (M, 26, local u, non-scholar, 2nd upp honours) just entered teaching this year.

May I ask for advice on how to become a HOD? I would like to be HOD of an acad subj.
Also, if you don’t mind sharing, how long does it take for an average person to become a HOD?

Thanks in advance!

Wow it's quite wide-ranging, but it seems like people whose minds are set and focused on becoming a HOD right from the start may take 6-8 years to be appointed.

The biggest factor is the availability of a vacancy, especially since you are constrained by the subjects you teach. Subjects which have a large national excess of teachers (e.g. math, sciences) may also present fewer IP HOD vacancies on average, but your mileage may vary depending on your teaching level and geographical area.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

To the HODs out there, I (M, 26, local u, non-scholar, 2nd upp honours) just entered teaching this year.

May I ask for advice on how to become a HOD? I would like to be HOD of an acad subj.
Also, if you don’t mind sharing, how long does it take for an average person to become a HOD?

Thanks in advance!

Biggest bottleneck is vacancies. There are many capable young leaders around, but also a lot of HODs that sit on the same position for 10+ years.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

If you put yourself in the shoes of the KP, 2 HOT who max out at GEO 5, cost as much or even more than 3 newly graduated NIE trainees.

But if you look at the amount of time those 3 newly graduated NIE trainees are willing to put in, how much extra work they are willing to do, it is much more than the 2 GEO 5.

Of course those of us who are in GEO 5 will loudly trump "but we have more experience than those NIE trainees!" but frankly, deep down, we can tell that is overrated.

Just want to note that (in my experience) there are some experienced HOTs that are definitely worth more than even hardworking fresh graduates. Possibly even more than two of them.

But yes, I agree that probably for the bulk of HOTs, the hardworking freshies are more 'value for money' than the old birds… 😂

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Just want to note that (in my experience) there are some experienced HOTs that are definitely worth more than even hardworking fresh graduates. Possibly even more than two of them.

But yes, I agree that probably for the bulk of HOTs, the hardworking freshies are more 'value for money' than the old birds… 😂

If I put myself in the KP position, especially if those hardworking freshies are ex-students of my school, they are so willing to spend extra time in school giving consults to their students.

Being of the closer age, they are also so much more popular with the students, and as we all know, often students study hard because they like the teacher, and that is how they do well academically at the end as well.

So based on the pay they are earning as GEO 3, from the cost benefit analysis, the preference is clear. =)

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yes, because of covid. But I have to say the quantum is lower

This is then v discouraging for those who only got C or C+.
How do the KPs determine how many % of geo 3 to get B.

[Tinkermaster]

There is a quota to every subgrade.
Usually up to 35% for As or Bs.
Up to 55% for As+Bs+C+
The rest will be Cs.
If the number of teachers of a job grade exceed a certain quota, then there will be a C-. appearing. Performance is now rated on a relative scale.

So it is not the panel of KPs in the ranking panel who determined the percentage.They can just collectively come up with a decision whether an officer meets the KRA for the job grade and put them in a ranked order. And there must be differentiation when a C grader is compared to a C+, or a C+ with the B grader. So if anyone gets a C-, it means there are some areas the person is not doing well in. Usually one can also tell, if one is already not getting a A/B/C+ when you are in your lower sub grades, the chance of you excelling when you are at a higher sub grade is usually slim.

[Tinkermaster]

I think long gone are the days where you are good in the subject or can get good percenrtage distinction passes will be eyeballed to fulfill the HOD /SH role. Teaching has become a lot ore encompassing and one has to really look into adding something distinctive that give students an enriched experience in your subject area whilst also raise the school branding too. I think the learning just need to be continous and has to keep stretching your knowledge into other domains too. And to bring this learning into creating something new that excites your students.

Should we create a system like term of hod be 3 years.
Max can serve 2 terms. If within 2 terms nv promote to vp, gotta step down
Like this fairer