If you are a teacher and finding ways to expand your potential, then the best way for you is to prepare yourself to become a Director of Studies. In this role, you will have multiple opportunities to grow your skills and expand your career. So, if you feel that you can work on yourself and get into a better position, then you are the suitable one. We will discuss the Director of Studies Job Description in this articl here.
When you get hired as a Director of Studies, you are handed over with multiple responsibilities. The primary one is to work for the educational betterment of the students and the organization you are working for. If you hold an honors degree, then you are an eligible candidate. However, some organizations may prefer a master’s degree as well.
Director of Studies Job Description
This is not all that you need to know. A vast ocean of information waiting for you below will let you get more about this role. You must go on to make yourself prepared for the duties of a Director of Studies.
Responsibilities of the Director of Studies
The duties of a DoS vary according to the principles and objectives of different institutions. But the probable liabilities that one may get encumbered with can be divided into sections that we are discussing below.
- Educational Responsibilities – When you become a DoS, you have few opportunities to teach students holding a textbook in your hand, as you have to involve yourself in other duties. You may need to deal with hiring teachers, setting training schedules for them, observing them, and encouraging them to develop high teaching standards. Setting agendas to help the teachers enhance their instructive qualities and observe all the faculties to decide the next step of advancement can also be part of your duty. If you are appointed as a DoS of a university, you may need to supervise the students of a particular subject for their academic welfare. If any of the students are facing issues regarding any section of the academics, you are the one who is going to fix that problem, whether by your expertise or by appointing them with any other expert lecturer. As a Director of Studies, you have to deal with both teachers and students.
- Administrative Responsibilities – Dealing with teachers and students is not all. You may also need to collaborate with the higher management authorities by making reports of the overall student-teacher activities to help them design the development plans and ease their evaluation process. You have to keep yourself updated with the newly launched educational theories and anything related to the educational system. Coordinating meetings, assisting the senior management team can also be a part of your duty. The authorities can let you handle the curriculum of the whole school. Your opinions may affect the whole system of the organization. Therefore, you have to be very careful and responsible in your role.
- Commercial Responsibilities – If we talk about commercial responsibilities, it may include discovering different processes to reach out to more students who can join the institution. This also includes doing promotions of the organization.
As we already said, the responsibilities vary according to the institutions’ agendas, so there may be some extra roles other than the ones mentioned here, or there may be only a few of them.
Skills You Need For This Role
Skill and degree are not synonyms of each other. So, holding a suitable degree is not everything you need for this role. There are multiple other things that you need to possess.
- Successful as a Teacher – The first step that you can make to be a DoS is to justify the role of a teacher. There are many similarities between these two professions. Hence, a successful teacher can pursue to be a Director of Studies.
- Communication Skills – Unlike a teacher, you will deal with a lot of other multitudes other than the students, like parents, teachers, and other higher authorities. Therefore, without better communication skills, you are going to fail miserably. The context denotes both written and speaking expertise, as you need them both.
- Leadership Potentials – In this role, you will be appointed to hire teachers, guide them to enhance their capacity, and motivate them. So, if you hold leadership potentials, it will be easier for you to be obliged.
- Honesty – If you are honest with your profession and your organization, you will only be able to make decisions that will lead to a better future for the institution. Therefore, your honesty will be a key element in this role.
- Confident Personality – Dealing with several people daily and convincing them with your opinions is not easy. For that, you need to have enough confidence in yourself.
Other than these factors, if you have experience working with management sectors and any organization’s developmental task, you may get priorities.
Similarities with the Teaching Profession
Giving instructions, motivations, listening to the problems of others, and suggesting solutions are all the common roles between a teacher and a DoS. The difference is that a DoS does it on a larger scale. Your responsibilities do not stay limited over your students, but you get engaged in listening and instructing the teachers as well.
In both sections, you need greater communicating skills, a leadership attitude, and a convincing tone in your discourses so that you can make others understand what you are saying. Also, they do not hesitate to ask you anything they doubt. You create a friendly environment around you and make others obey what you feel to be good for them and the institution’s educational quality.
Both of the roles contribute progressively, but a teacher’s roles are somewhat limited. So, if you feel that as a teacher, you have the potential to cope up with multiple responsibilities, then you can take a step ahead.
How to Know You Have the Potential
As described till now, it does not seem to be a very easy role to encumber. But if you have the right potential, then you may not face any difficulties. You can refer to the below points to know about the potentials that one needs to justify the role.
- You are not afraid of taking umpteen responsibilities.
- You can make the right opinions and can prove them to be right.
- Multitasking is your forte.
- The people around you pay heed to your instructions.
- You can standardize yourself with the higher authorities.
- You have a progressive thought process.
- Making selfless decisions is nothing difficult for you.
- You do not want to stay limited in the role of a teacher.
Along with having the necessary skills and degrees, if you have these potentials, then you have a chance to be the Director of Studies.
Earnings
The earnings that a DoS may generate can rise to $122,047. However, the range fluctuates between $108,645 to $136,639. The salary highly depends on the responsibilities, experience, and skills you have.
Conclusion
While doing the duties of a DoS, you have to be extremely productive, and you should know how to delve deep into multiple tasks together. If you can give your best to this role, then it will also bestow you with skills that will be useful for you in your own life as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Do I need to have expertise on a particular subject to become a DoS?
No, it is not necessary to come from a particular subject background to get into the position. You may have your expertise in any subject, and still, you can apply for the position.
- Can I get into the role of DoS if I am not a teacher?
Yes, you can, but that totally depends on the organization for which you are applying. If they have included the ‘experience of teaching’ as a compulsory skill that the candidate has to have, it may be difficult. But if there are no such criteria, then you can apply.
- What are the next steps a teacher needs to take to become a DoS?
If you have better communication skills and necessary leadership skills, you need to work on your multitasking abilities and time management potentials. Also, give some time to gain knowledge about curriculums and educational systems. These will help you much in this endeavor.
- Will I be totally detached from the role of teaching?
No, not entirely, but you may lose the opportunities of teaching. Becoming the representative of your teacher colleagues in their absence is one of the many other duties you may have to take over often. So, you are not totally detached from the task of teaching. Rather you can say that there are very few opportunities for becoming a Director of Studies.
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