I am excited to have taken on the new role of Dean of Faculty. Since this is a new role to our school, I thought it might be helpful to explain more about what I will be doing in this position. 

Official Version

I am going to start with what might sound like a more “job description” explanation… As Dean of Faculty, I work with Department Chairs and serve as an instructional leader for fellow faculty members in their respective disciplines. I will play a key role in stewarding instruction and learning across departments and will actively seek cross-curricular and interdisciplinary approaches. I also am responsible for ensuring that best instructional practices are being used by faculty and that innovative, student-centered, project-based approaches are being emphasized. 

My interpretation

I think what is MORE important is the spirit and philosophy I want to bring to this role.  I like to think of my position as being an instructional coach. I hope that by collaborating with teachers, I can help create an environment that will support teachers in reaching their goals in a fulfilling manner. I want to help teachers explore language, nonverbal communication, and emotions, and how these affect relationships, performance, and results. I look forward to visiting classrooms and spending time this year getting to know each department’s teachers and curriculum. 

I’ve been inspired by Elena Aguilar’s Art of Coaching online course and as a result I hope to model how I will work with teachers based on her model of transformational coaching. One thing that I do want everyone to understand is that I cannot be a coach to others if we do not have a relationship of trust. I want people to feel comfortable sharing areas they are struggling with or beliefs that might be holding them back and I understand that this can only happen if there is trust between us. I will not be reporting back to the Vice Principal or Principal the details that are discussed in my coaching sessions. I will share, if asked, who I am working with and general areas we are working on but that is it. I hope this creates an environment where teachers feel comfortable being vulnerable and working on growing as educators. 

With our new crew professional development model, I am excited to be a crew facilitator for our New and Newish Crews to help them acclimate to working at Carondelet and provide additional support during their first year(s) at our school. 

If you are interested in working with me this year, please do not hesitate to reach out. My office is located in the senior hallway next to Maggie’s office. Drop-in anytime to chat or send me an email to set up an appointment. I look forward to working with you.