Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Second Edition

Organisation in the secondary school
Much of what is mentioned in this section is expanded on in
Chapter 14. It is important to emphasise, however, that
departmental organisation is probably more important in the
secondary school than in any other type of institution. The
reason for this is that secondary schools tend to be large and
to keep pupils over a period of several years. The English
department must be organised so that control is maintained
over the many classes, and continuity is maintained from
year to year.
The kind of scheme of work which was discussed earlier in
the chapter is the responsibility of the department as a whole,
and therefore ultimately the responsibility of the head of the
department. While it is recognised that different institutions
organise themselves in different ways, it must be insisted that
it is highly irresponsible not to be able to offer a new teacher
clear guidance on the level of work to be expected in classes
to be taken over and on how that relates to the total work of
the school. This means a great deal more than merely giving
page numbers of a textbook.
The ideal scheme of work for a school will consist of two
parts: a series of stages through which all pupils are expected
to pass, going right from entry into the school up to the time
that they leave, and a checklist of other items which cannot
be ordered but which should be covered during the work of
each year. The stages should cover all aspects of language
work, but should also specify what sort of subject matter,
and what sort of language interaction skills should be
expected. At the same time, as appropriate, the checklist
should provide a note of, for example, relevant pieces of
cultural information which should be touched upon at some
stage (a country with close links with the USA would expect
to include relevant information about travel prospects, for

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Learning English in the Secondary School
185
example), or of basic syntactic errors which are not so
important that they will be covered by the core course, but
which should be revised during the year if the need arises.
Thus, while the teacher should be able to know that a class
which has reached stage 12 will have covered stages 1–11 in
that order, he will have to see what has been crossed off the
checklist to see which of the more incidental parts have been
touched on.
The scheme of work, then, acts both as a guide and a
record. If every class has a record kept of its activities, at the
end of each term it will be possible at a glance to see how
individuals and classes are progressing.
The preparation of the scheme of work for the
department, and of materials to back it up, provides the basis
for the professional development of the English teaching
staff. No materials or scheme are likely to last for very long,
because they express a relationship between pupils, teachers,
and English learning needs. All of these are likely to change
from year to year, and any scheme should be in a process of
permanent, slow revision. Even when, as in most schools, the
staff are pressed for time, the benefits of working together on
a regular basis cannot be exaggerated.
The department in a secondary school has one other
important role to play, however, and that is as a source for
materials. There are some sorts of materials which can only
exist efficiently on a departmental basis (for example
wallcharts and aids of many kinds). It may also be true that
no extensive reading can be effectively organised in the
school without co-operation between all the English
teachers. For example, if the school has funds to spend on
class libraries for silent reading, these need to be organised in
such a way that the maximum number of suitable books can
reach the maximum number of pupils. This implies some
kind of rota system between classes, and it is much more
efficient for this to be organised than for it to be left to
chance. And even in schools where there are no funds for this
sort of book, pupils can be encouraged to lend books for
such a purpose.
The final important activity at department level in the
secondary school is the provision of information to staff and
pupils. It is astonishing how often it is assumed that teachers

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186
below examination classes do not need to know about the
examination syllabus. Circulars from Ministries of
Education, lists of books, anything which is of any relevance
whatsoever to the English work of the school should be
permanently accessible to all staff, and it should be assumed
that they will want to see everything. No one can work
efficiently if he feels that discussion relating to his work is
going on in his absence. And to some extent the same
principles apply to the pupils. Certainly those who are in
examination classes should have access to—and ideally
receive—copies of the official examination syllabus, and in
general the higher up the school pupils rise, the more they
should have the reasons for all activities of the department
explained to them.
A final, important point is worth making. The
organisation of a department is not solely the concern of the
head of the department. Someone has to take responsibility
and there must be a leader, but the running of the department
and the administrative chores associated with it should as far
as possible be a co-operative endeavour. Only then will the
members of the department work as a team, and the
activities function satisfactorily when the head of the
department leaves or has to be absent for any time. Perhaps
more than any other subject in the school curriculum,
English teaching is a co-operative activity, and the
considerations discussed in Chapter 14 are most vital at the
secondary level.