Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Second Edition

General organisation
In the first instance, it will be the responsibility of the head of
department to set up a satisfactory organisation, but it is
most important that he should feel—as soon as possible—
that he is entirely dispensable. The system that is set up
should be sufficiently open for the department to be able to
be carried on totally efficiently by the other members, even if
the head is suddenly whisked off at ten minutes’ notice to
another post or another country! However, particularly in
institutions where there is no strong tradition of working as a
team, the initial stages of building up a departmental feeling
may require a lot of tact and a lot of careful planning and
discussion.
The two basic aims of departmental organisation are
(i) to ensure a consistent and sensible policy in English
teaching throughout the institution, and
(ii) to keep the administration of the department running
smoothly.

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The English Department
203
To achieve these aims a good head of department will ensure
that all useful information is made rapidly and easily
available to all staff teaching English and will also delegate
responsibility wherever this will not impair efficiency (that is,
most of the time), and will always be accessible to criticism,
either of himself or of the system. Finally, he will never be
contented, the department will be in a perpetual process of
self-assessment and self-renewal, without losing the basic
framework on which its continuity and efficiency rests.