It’s now September, and I’ve finally had some time to sit down and write again. The last academic year has been particularly busy, and one of the things that I usually ‘cut out’ is the blog, unfortunately. This being said, now that I’m in relax mode (kind of – tomorrow I start back in theContinue reading “Musings of an academic manager: 2023/24 in review”
Category Archives: Musings of an academic manager
The Three Series: 3 (well 6 actually!) books for managers in ELT
This is part of The Three Series. I read a lot of books, but unfortunately I don’t have enough time to review all of them in detail. This being said, I wanted to put together a post that focused on books for my managers out there! What follows here is a list of six titles thatContinue reading “The Three Series: 3 (well 6 actually!) books for managers in ELT”
Musings of an academic manager – Reflections on implementing a task-supported syllabus 1
This year, we are implementing a task-supported syllabus in the academy where I work. It has been a while in the making, with the plans for this being drawn up last academic year – in fact, my assignments for the NILE MA Trainer Development module were centred on it. I thought I would slowly writeContinue reading “Musings of an academic manager – Reflections on implementing a task-supported syllabus 1”
Musings of an academic manager – It’s not always sunshine and rainbows!
I don’t think that anyone moves into a DoS position thinking it’s going to be easy, which is a good thing as there are times when being a DoS is quite stressful. The last month is a good example of some of the proverbial lemons life can throw an LTO manager. But, I’m a firmContinue reading “Musings of an academic manager – It’s not always sunshine and rainbows!”
Musings of an academic manager – managing my time whilst covering for sick teachers
One of the responsibilities of being a DoS or any sort of academic manager (in general) is having to cover teachers’ classes when they fall ill. Most of us in management have probably become even more aware of this (and the pain that it brings) over the last two to three years with the COVID-19Continue reading “Musings of an academic manager – managing my time whilst covering for sick teachers”
Musing of an academic manager – The manager I’d like to be
As part of induction week and their start-of-the-year development, teachers at my academy completed the following task: This is of course the activity The teacher I’d like to be, taken from Wright and Bolitho’s brilliant book, Trainer Development. I have been using this with teachers for the past two years, and have found it reallyContinue reading “Musing of an academic manager – The manager I’d like to be”
Musings of an academic manager – Getting ready for summer courses
Over the past three months, we have been working hard to define, plan and create materials for a range of summer courses we are delivering over July. It’s been a lot of hard work, but something that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. In this post, we’ll take a look at our goals, how we met our goals,Continue reading “Musings of an academic manager – Getting ready for summer courses”
Musings of an academic manager – An update and a brain dump
Moving into a full-time Director of Studies position this year was something I had been looking forward to. It would mean a whole new set of challenges, and I would be able to contribute even more to the academy that I have grown to love. But boy oh boy, is it a whole new ballContinue reading “Musings of an academic manager – An update and a brain dump”
SPONGE ELT 