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