3 High-Level Strategies for Creating a Faculty Vision

Leadership Contingency 2 - The Mediated Vision

In my previous article on Faculty Leadership, I pondered on Leadership Contingencies necessary for Faculty Leaders to acquire or develop to be successful in their role.  Writing about being the Sandwiched Negotiator (Leadership Contingency 1),  I discussed the delicate act of pivoting between being a Secondary Leadership Advocate and a Faculty Team Defender, while also driving forward one’s own reform agenda.  The second Leadership Contingency in this series is the idea of The Mediated Vision.

Can there be a Faculty Vision?
Is it possible for Faculty Leaders to cultivate their own unique vision? This might seem like an unusual question, but note, there’s typically an overarching organisational vision already in place.  So, is it the Faculty Leader's role to present their team with two distinct visions - the broader organisational vision, and then their individual vision tailored specifically for their team?  Leaders are supposed to bring clarity, not confusion by promoting two seemingly contradictory, or at least divergent, messages.  For example, I previously worked at a school where the vision statement was:

​OUR VISION is for our students to be high achieving, healthy and happy individuals, well prepared to take their place as global citizens and leaders of the future.

I believe that while this was a necessary statement for the whole-school community, something more focussed was required at a faculty level. That is, producing a ‘Mediated Vision’.

Leadership Contingency 2 - The Mediated Vision

Faculty Leaders, must be conscious that in their position they are more interpreters, rather than originators, of vision - i.e., they create a Mediated Vision.  This faculty vision is mediated through the wider school vision, their subject specialism, as well as by honing on the expertise they and their faculty bring to the table.  So, in our case, our faculty vision was:

Unleashing the problem solver within every student

Surely a student who has the problem solver within them unleashed, will be ‘high achieving [and] …. well prepared to take their place as … leaders of the future.’  Now imagine every faculty had a vision which contributed, in part, to the school vision.  The compound effect of this would be the school quite easily achieving its overall vision.  Of course, a mission is also needed to realise any vision (a discussion for a future article).

The danger of (Ir)reconciled Visions

Effective leaders can reconcile various, seemingly conflicting, ideas into a simple message which everyone can understand.  A Faculty Leader knows how their team’s vision (and mission) can contribute to and support the wider organisation goals.  This also prevents divergent paths being taken across faculties, which has the danger of creating fragmentation and subcultures within a school leading to organisational disunity.  If every middle leader doesn’t have a faculty specific focus that clearly links to the school vision, this can create a sense of organisational disunity and incoherency. 

Yet while knowing where they want their department to go and articulating it to the team is seen as an enabler for Faculty Leaders, research literature on middle leaderships suggests little is known about how leaders actually go about creating viable vision.  So, here are three high-level strategies if you’re thinking of crafting a vision for your faculty. 

1. Mediate through your school Vision

Decide which part of this vision your team will be directly contributing towards. Put your school vision on the board, and as a team, focus in. This is the starting point.  Make this a high priority on your agenda and discuss and debate at departmental meetings, building consensus over time. 

In my earlier example, our focus was on the part of the vision that emphasised ‘high achieving [and] … leaders of the future.’ 

2. Mediate through your Subject Specialism

Make your vision statement subject specific (and don’t be shy in doing so).  Having a generic faculty vision that doesn’t reflect your subject specialism diminishes its value - and makes it less likely to be a reference point for ongoing discussions and development work.  This ensures the focus area of the school vision is something everyone in the subject specialism can see themselves contributing towards.    

Again, in my earlier example we focussed on problem solving, which learning Mathematics has at its core.  While other subject areas also have students’ working on problem solving, it does have a greater emphasis within Mathematics and is a key skill for students who are ‘high achieving’ and ‘leaders of the future’ – our area of focus from the whole-school vision.

3. Mediate through your Expertise

Draw on you and your team’s expertise.  Each Faculty Head, and Faculty Team, has a distinct set of expertise which makes them unique compared to the same faculty area in a different school.  Where do passions and expertise predominantly lie within you and your team?  

Drawing upon this is made the faculty vision more than just a statement, but instead a practical and living reality – and our focus on problem solving made it quite clear what we wanted students to actually be doing!

Concluding thoughts

By vision, I don’t mean a verbal statement, but a well-crafted written statement that’s shared with the team.  Leadership literature consistently places possessing a strong vision (and mission) front and centre. Typically, this is collaboratively developed, explicitly written, shared with followers, and used as a common frame of reference for ongoing discussions and development work.  I would contend that the skill of crafting and using a vision is absolutely fundamental for Faculty Leaders – above all it ensures they are clear and consistent on the big picture of what they are trying to achieve.  Further, it helps them as they progress in their own leadership journey, a good practice run for bigger things later on! 

Of course, developing a vision for subject leaders is a mediated action, thus The Mediated Vision, where the middle leader must relate the aspirations of the organisational vision with their department culture and practice.  This develops clarity of vision, avoids fragmentation across the school, and ensures everyone is working towards a shared goal.  If each faculty across a school was successful in this endeavour, this would better move them collectively towards achieving the overarching school vision.

If you are a Faculty Leader, or even a Senior School Leader, why not begin mapping out your journey towards a compounding set of Faculty Visions.

References / Further Reading

Gleeson, D.  Glover, D.  Gough, G.  Johnson, G. (1998).  The Meaning of Management: The Development Needs of Middle Managers in Secondary Schools.  Educational Management and Administration, 26:3, 279-292. 

Brown, M.  Rutherford, D.  Boyle, B.  (2000).  Leadership for School Improvement: The Role of the Head of Department in UK Secondary Schools.  School Effectiveness and School Improvement. 11:2, 237-258.

Bennett, N.  Newton, W.  Wise, C.  Woods, P.  (2007).  Understandings of middle leadership in secondary schools: a review of empirical research.  School Leadership & Management. 27:5, 453-470.

Brundrett, M & Irvine, P. (2016).  Middle Leadership and its Challenges: a case study in the secondary independent sector.  Management in Education, 30:2, 86–92.