SLT incompetence

[MintBee]

So my senior lead team have decided to hire a teacher who clearly did not make any attempt to adapt a Powerpoint they used for their interview lesson. Whilst I am observing their lesson with a member of SLT you can clearly see that the applicant has taken a lesson from their current school and used it but made no attempt to get rid of their current schools logo on the slides, kept their current schools classroom expectations and in speaker notes for each slide it said instruction for what should be on each slide like a proforma. The activity the candidate did had not plan for evidence of learning or activity for the students to prove their learning.

My whole department are at our wits end with their decision making and morale is at an all time low. Do I raise this to the headteacher or would you start to look for a new job?

[spanieleyes]

I think you need to look for a new job. When you go for interview, make sure you plan an activity from absolute scratch, don't use one that you have previously taught even if you know it meets the lesson objective and is effective. Don't set out YOUR expectations of the classroom behaviour clearly, you will just have to hazard a guess what the school wants and try for that. Don't make yourself notes on the slides just in case you are nervous and might need a bit of a self prompt. And just hope that the school you are applying for have an incompetent SLT too!

Or accept that, in the current climate, schools are often lucky to get any applicants for a post and might have to make the best of a bad bunch!

[PumpkinPie2016]

I'm a HoD. There is nothing wrong with using something you have successfully used before.
I taught a topic for my current role using strategies and activities I have previously used when teaching this particular topic.

It sounds like the PowerPoint wasn't perfect.

You also have to remember that candidates are teaching in an unfamiliar environment, with children they don't know. They are not aware of the expectations of the school - most people are a product of where they are. You have to think - can we work with them/develop them? If the answer is yes and there are no major red flags, the appointment could work well.

Also, currently, recruitment is dire. In an ideal world, we would have wide and strong fields. Sadly, that is often not the case. Perhaps SLT are thinking that appointing the person and working with them is better than simply having no one.

I am on the extended SLT in my school - things are very, very challenging in schools at the moment.

[lurchersforever]

Are you the HoD? Did you not get any say at all as someone who also observed the lesson? Who else was involved in the recruitment process and what other elements to the process were there? It's an odd post tbh. What would be the point of seeing the head if the job offer has been made?

[NotStylishOrBeautiful]

Did you not already post this? From the other angle? Or do you just have higher expectations of others than of yourself?

[ThanksItHasPockets]

This is so weird. I was on your other thread. Was it a reverse?

[SquirrelHash]

Hey just be glad your SLT are not falsifying attendance data and lying to the LA 😫

[Hayliebells]

Why are you so bothered about logos on PowerPoint etc? That's hardly important re learning, you just sound like you're nit picking. I'd be more concerned about the lack of a check for understanding, but presumably this wasn't a full lesson, so maybe they thought it was more important to showcase their explanation. How was their explanation? The school is employing a teacher, where one of the most important skills is the ability to explain things well. A teacher's ability to faff around with PowerPoint is not an important skill you need to them to demonstrate in an interview lesson, surely?

[MintBee]

@Hayliebells

Why are you so bothered about logos on PowerPoint etc? That's hardly important re learning, you just sound like you're nit picking. I'd be more concerned about the lack of a check for understanding, but presumably this wasn't a full lesson, so maybe they thought it was more important to showcase their explanation. How was their explanation? The school is employing a teacher, where one of the most important skills is the ability to explain things well. A teacher's ability to faff around with PowerPoint is not an important skill you need to them to demonstrate in an interview lesson, surely?

I just think it shows a lack of effort on their part to send in a Powerpoint from your current school and not bother to remove all that. Also, when one observer doesn't write any notes because they are too busy being a TA.

[Hayliebells]

How much effort is enough effort? They've likely been teaching full time at their current school, and they've had to prepare cover work for their interview day. Why do you want them to do extra work that doesn't impact learning? Faffing around with a PowerPoint is not a good use of a teacher's time, it doesn't need to be edited at all to be an adequate learning tool.

[NotStylishOrBeautiful]

Why are you ignoring my question about why you posted the same scenario from two different angles?