Editing Director of Studies

A '''Director of Studies''' (DOS) is effectively the head teacher in a [[language school]].

==Responsibilities==

The DOS has many responsibilities including:

*Liaising between [[teacher]]s and management
*Observing teachers' [[lesson]]s 
*Dealing with [[student]] problems
*Internal and [[external exams]]
*Organising and managing teachers' meetings
*Choosing [[coursebook]]s
*Creating [[syllabus]]es
*Interviewing new teachers
*Creating teachers' and students' timetables

==Challenges==

The aims and priorities of the school's management and those of the teachers' may not always coincide, and the DOS may have to walk a difficult line in attempting to keep everyone happy. 

Whereas some Directors of Studies are well-trained professionals skilled at managing this tricky task; there are others who have neither the aptitude nor the training.  These may sometimes give the position a bad name and may even generate unrest among the teaching staff.

==The Peter Principle==

The Peter Principle states that: {{Cquote|In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence.}}
In other words, workers continue to be promoted until they cease to competent - or until they are promoted to a position for which they have no skills or aptitude.  It is possible that the occasional DOS may have fallen foul of this principle...

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Language schools]]