A faculty leader manages curriculum consistency, professional learning, assessment, reporting, and collaboration. You might coordinate Year 7 Curriculum across three teachers, or lead the entire English faculty.
The role is partly administrative (timetables, budgets) and partly instructional leadership (improving teaching, supporting teachers). Both matter.
Beginning Teachers: New teachers need mentoring, not judgment. Offer supportive observations, model lessons, and regular check-ins. A struggling beginning teacher who gets support often becomes a great teacher. Abandon them, and they leave the profession.
Experienced Teachers: They might resist change. Rather than impose, invite: "I've read research about... What do you think?" Collaboration beats top-down mandates.
Struggling Teachers: Sometimes a teacher is underperforming. Address it professionally and supportively. "I've noticed... Can we talk about how to improve?"
Scope and Sequence: Ensure across your faculty (if you teach the same course to multiple classes), there's agreement on what's taught when. Otherwise, students experience gaps and redundancy.
Assessment Consistency: Standardise rubrics across teachers so a student's mark is consistent regardless of teacher. Use moderation — bring student work together and mark it as a team to align standards.
Resourcing: Share resources. If one teacher has brilliant lesson plans or materials, others benefit. Create a shared repository.
Faculty Meetings With Purpose: Don't waste time on compliance reading. Use time for learning. Book study: read a chapter together and discuss implications. Demonstration lesson: a teacher teaches while others observe and debrief.
External PL: Research quality professional development and bring it in, or send team members to conferences and have them report back.
Peer Observation: Structure time for teachers to observe each other and give feedback. "I noticed you used wait time beautifully in that discussion. How did you develop that practice?"
Sometimes you need to address underperformance, conflict, or resistance. Do it privately, respectfully, and clearly.
"I've noticed X. This affects the team and our students. Let's talk about how to move forward together." Lead with curiosity, not judgment. Often there are reasons behind behaviour you don't see.
You're an advocate for your faculty at school leadership meetings. You voice concerns, celebrate successes, and represent your team's interests. "Our faculty needs better resourcing. Here's why. Here's what we need."
But you also communicate downward, explaining school decisions to your team and helping them understand the bigger picture.
