Week 17: I Was Tapped on the Shoulder This Week

In my board the department headships (positions of responsibility, or PORs) are 5 year terms. This means that every 5 years they are posted internally for anyone eligible to apply to. I have been told for a long time that I have some natural leadership qualities which has lead to many people in my life asking me if I have plans to be a principal/department head/etc. I have always found this a difficult question and the short answer is usually "I love my classroom right now".

I do sometimes think about a POR, and have explored a bit about what it would mean, etc. In our board it has been defined as leadership in three areas: curriculum, administrative, and school. The administrative portion is often what we see as the headship - the budgeting, ordering materials, making decisions, doing the timetabling - and as much as I enjoy logistics this is the part of the job that does not interest me. I don't want those concerns to take away from what I do in the classroom and the difference I am trying to make in various areas of the school. The school leadership part seems like a bit of a given to me. Attending and helping with Grade 8 parents night, in school leadership, etc. The curriculum leadership is the part that I am passionate about. I love learning and working on my teaching practices (especially as they relate to assessment and evaluation), but it is also the part that I find I can do as a teacher. Being a teacher-leader has been a pretty satisfying piece of my job in recent years.

With the PORs posted this winter it was indicated to me by various people that I should consider applying. I was, of course, flattered by the suggestion and have taken their opinions into consideration. It would be neat to work with a team of people at the school to work on improving the learning and working environment (although we already have a pretty good one), but when it comes down to it, I felt good about what I was accomplishing in my current position. I have always felt supported by my admin, and I already feel that I am able to make a positive impact on my peers. There were, of course, other concerns that I had as well, as it can be difficult to change roles within the same group of peers, and I did not feel ready to think about applying to another school's POR at this stage.

There are many pros and cons to consider overall, but in the end I think that I am going to decide to stick with the current challenges I am taking on, as I do not feel the desire to take on a new one (a big one, at that). Maybe sometime down the road I will change my mind, but for now my decision is to see what happens at my current school (as I am sure there will be some changes) and make decisions from there.