What is my personal vision for the education work I am currently involved in and how does this relate to the school’s vision?

As Head of History I will be looking to organise a department which aims for high academic achievement while teaching students skills which will be valuable for their personal growth. The academic achievement will be targeted by allowing the teachers to teach in their preferred style while encouraging them to experiment with teaching practice suggested by contemporary research. Moreover, students will be encouraged to understand their own learning styles by looking at Gardner’s ‘Multiple Intelligence Model’. Students will be encouraged to explore group work, presentations, investigations and peer assessment via the curriculum structure. Students will be made to feel safe in speaking out, confident to ask questions and present ideas through a disciplined learning environment.

This agrees with the school mission statement in that a safe, disciplined environment will be provided to make an effective learning environment. There could be issues with students taking ownership of their study skills in History lessons and this not being the case in other subjects. Therefore one could look to involve other subject leaders in promoting student ownership of their study. Furthermore, a systematic use of peer assessment also aids students learning from students. What is of pivotal importance though is that the educator remains in control to ensure that a disciplined environment is maintained to allow such academic achievement.

Using the SWOT analysis the strengths of school in creating this environment are a disciplined student population. Furthermore the students generally have a good respect for each other. The student enthusiasm to learn is certainly an opportunity for them to take control of their learning. Peer assessment and group work allow for a varied delivery of information and study. A weakness of the idea is that staff and student turn over could diminish the effect of long term goals which are set through this vision. The threat comes from the high turnover of staff and broad range of career cycles which may not be conducive to a whole school educational drive.