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[nomad soul]

A guide to climbing the career ladder in international schools
Teach Middle East Magazine | 27 May 2018
Source: http://teachmiddleeastmag.com/a-guide-to-climbing-the-career-progression-ladder-in-international-schools/

Not everybody wants to climb the leadership ladder; the extra responsibility and increased time away from the classroom is understandably not everybody’s cup of tea. But for those who find their aspirations leaning toward management or leadership, how do you get experience and noticed in schools where roles and responsibilities sometimes appear impenetrable?

A starting point would be to define your career goal. It sounds obvious but this is vital to how you communicate your aspirations to others. Be clear about what you want and why you think you would be good at it. Having a vague notion that you would like to be on a senior leadership team is futile, without knowing which area of school leadership you ultimately want to lead. Be honest about your strengths. Are you better suited to the pastoral or curriculum side of education? Is the phase you are currently working in going to support your long term aims? Wanting to be a head of a sixth form is less likely to happen without experience of teaching A-Level or IB.

With your goal established, begin to plan ways of establishing a dialogue with your current school leaders about this. At the simplest level, it could be chatting informally in the teachers' lounge about how people arrived at the positions you are interested in. Be aware that when chatting in this way, mentioning your aspirations can occasionally cause suspicion. Choose your wording carefully and consider using phrases such as ‘in the future’ and ‘when the time is right for me’.

[nomad soul]

1. Use professional integrity by being good at the job you are paid to do. Being punctual, avoiding staff gossip, and following procedures diligently are a ‘must’. Dressing smartly and being the model employee during school is obviously somewhat marred if you are tagged on social media downing Jaeger shots at a local pub. Practise what you plan to preach.

2. Follow public figures who have the role you want via Twitter or other social media platforms. Read blogs and articles and stay abreast with developments in the area you wish to go further into. Begin your own online presence in the global teaching community. Networking is vital in career progression and especially in education.

3. Use your school’s performance review to your advantage. Raise the subject of career progression and be armed with suggestions of how the school can help you get there. Avoid going straight in with a request for a three-day course with a fancy title and price to match. If the budget for professional development is modest, consider getting creative in-house.

4. Request to shadow a manager or leader during your off time. It shows your commitment to gaining experience. Build a rapport with the person you shadow.

5. Expect moments where the job you eventually hope to do appears easy, especially if the person doing it has done so for many years. By the same token, it can be tempting to form private criticisms about how you’d do things differently if you were in charge. Be wary of this train of thought.

6. Keep an eye on the job market and the types of experience schools want. Try to ensure your CV can reference as much as possible. Be patient and prepared to speak up regularly to your school leadership.

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