Director of Education Candidate Pack May 2017
Beaconhouse School System Director of Education Candidate Pack – May 2017 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
From its humble beginnings as a Montessori school for nineteen toddlers set up by Mrs Nasreen Kasuri in 1975, the Beaconhouse group has grown to become one of the largest private school networks in the world. Through its various divisions, each catering for different ages and socioeconomic groups, Beaconhouse reaches around 280,000 students globally. Beaconhouse is currently looking to appoint a Director of Education for its flagship network, the Beaconhouse School System (BSS). BSS has campuses in 30 cities in Pakistan as well as in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Oman, the UAE, and Europe. In total, BSS educates 105,000 children between the ages of 3-19. It offers a diverse mix of curricular, from international programmes such as the IB, IGCSE and A Levels, and the IPC, to the national curricular of host countries as well as its own Beaconhouse School Curriculum. BSS’ educational ethos is centred on life-long learning and 21st century skills. The Director of Education is the academic and educational leader of the school system. Based in Lahore, Pakistan, and reporting to the CEO, Kasim Kasuri, s/he will provide pedagogical and strategic oversight for the entire education provision. Ideal candidates will be innovative, inspirational and future-oriented educational leaders with experience in school improvement on a large scale. It is expected that the Director of Education will build on BSS’ success as a global leader in the education sector while navigating the opportunities and challenges presented by an uncertain future – both in terms of education content and delivery. For an informal conversation, prior to applying, please contact Hannah Doughty at the executive search firm Society at hannah.doughty@society-search.com. Applications should consist of a CV, ideally accompanied by a brief covering letter addressing the criteria in the Person Specification. These documents can be uploaded via Society’s website: www.society-search.com. The deadline for receipt of applications is midday (GMT) on Monday 5th June 2017.
BEACONHOUSE SCHOOL SYSTEM (BSS)
Established in 1975, BSS has grown to become one of the largest private school networks in the world. Its first school was opened in Lahore, Pakistan, where it maintains a strong presence and an excellent reputation. It now has schools in 30 cities throughout the country and has expanded internationally to include K-12 school networks, preschools and child development centres in Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Oman, the UAE, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. In total, BSS educates around 105,000 children between the ages of 3-19, a number that increases from year to year. As the birthplace of Beaconhouse School System, Pakistan plays an important role within the organisation. Not only is it home to the global headquarters but it also has the greatest number of schools within the system. Significantly, the founder of Beaconhouse, Mrs Nasreen Kasuri, is an important figure for women’s empowerment within Pakistan. She received the Woman Power 100 award at a ceremony in London in 2012 and founded the not-for-profit Beaconhouse National University, the country’s first broad-based liberal arts university (www.bnu.edu.pk). Beaconhouse is proud to have a high number of female employees - around 62% - and a strong representation of women in leadership roles throughout the company. The Beaconhouse Curriculum BSS offers a number of curricula across its network, including international programmes such as the IB, IGCSEs and A Levels, and the IPC, as well as the national curricula of countries such as the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Oman, the UAE, and Pakistan. Beaconhouse has also developed its own curriculum, the Beaconhouse School Curriculum, that runs from Grades 1-8 in most of its schools. With early influences from the Scottish curriculum, the Beaconhouse curriculum is presently a hybrid between the UK national curriculum and Beaconhouse’s own unique insights gained over its 42 years of operation. At its core, this curriculum champions the cultivation of valuesled cultural understanding in children from an early age, as captured within the Beaconhouse Learner Profile. Taught in English throughout (except in some schools in Thailand), the Beaconhouse School Curriculum endeavours to make learning relevant to the local context of the schools it is used in and is designed to be easily contextualised across the geography of the school system. BSS aims to provide an impactful education, rooted in local communities but with a distinctive global outlook.
The Beaconhouse Learner Profile The Beaconhouse Learner Profile translates BSS’ mission of benefitting students, the community and the wider world into a set of attributes essential for holistic development. The Learner Profile embodies values and beliefs that are essential for students to learn and grow into responsible citizens of the world. These values are consistent throughout Beaconhouse’s Early Years, Primary, Middle and Secondary schools. The Learner Profile helps to create a community of learners who are empowered, inspired and aware. With these attributes, students are empowered to actively engage with the complex world beyond schooling – a world to which they can contribute with compassion and a sense of responsibility. Beaconhouse learners aim to be creative and innovative, analytical, resolute, inquisitive, empathetic, globally aware, ethical, healthy and active, and digitally literate.
Investing in Teachers Since its inception, BSS has maintained a tradition of providing exceptional teacher training in line with the latest research within the education sector. Collaborating with institutions such as the Moray House School of Education in Scotland, the College of St Mark & St John, and the Universities of Bradford and Exeter in the UK, Beaconhouse has consistently invested in a rich programme of professional development and support for its teaching and school leadership staff. Indeed, it is often considered by other private schools in Pakistan to be a reliable source for trained teachers. Professional development programmes at Beaconhouse operate at multiple levels from entry-level to post-graduate certificate level, leading ultimately to Masters in Education qualifications from the UK. Entry-level training is mandatory, while more advanced training is open to motivated teachers. In addition to formal teacher training, Beaconhouse offers a range of needs-based training including programmes in education technology, SEN, Student Counselling, Project-Based Learning, the International Baccalaureate, Cambridge International Exams, and much more. Some of these programmes are offered by Beaconhouse on its own, while others are offered in collaboration with external partners such as the IBO, CIE, Buck Institute for Education, TeachThought, Beaconhouse National University, and many others. Most training is delivered in Pakistan while some of it is delivered internationally.
School of Tomorrow Event Series BSS not only provides opportunities for its staff to grow as educators but makes a significant effort to remain an active contributor to and energising force within educational debates and advances. Beaconhouse has held the ‘School of Tomorrow’ conferences every five years since 2000, and annually since 2015 (www.sotevents.com). These events have taken place in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, and Kuala Lumpur in the past and have featured global thinkers including Noam Chomsky along with various heads of state and government officials in keynote capacities. The last SOT Event, ‘A World of Tomorrow: Seeking Inspiration & Equilibrium in a New Age’ was held in Islamabad in March 2015 and featured 140 speakers from many countries including writer/historian Lesley Hazleton as keynote speaker, and was open to the general public. The next SOT Event is scheduled to be held in Dubai in the first quarter of 2018. The Chair of the SOT Event Series is the CEO of Beaconhouse, Kasim Kasuri, while the Director of Education provides key inputs in programme design.
ROLE DESCRIPTION
Beaconhouse is looking for a Director of Education to become the academic and educational leader of the Beaconhouse School System and, working with colleagues across the system, direct the development and on-going enhancement of the overall education programme. The postholder will be based in Lahore, Pakistan, and will report to the CEO, Kasim Kasuri. This is an opportunity to play a central role in a vast yet forward-looking school system that educates around 105,000 students globally. General Responsibilities
contributing to translating the corporate education vision and long term strategy into tangible operational plans for all key stakeholders; formulating, implementing and monitoring policies that facilitate the implementation of standards by building a nationwide consensus among all key stakeholders; recruiting and training highly qualified academic staff who have the potential to assume leadership positions at a later stage; liaising with the relevant public and private educational providers both within Pakistan and internationally; reporting regularly to the CEO and Beaconhouse Management Executive Council on all areas of education within Beaconhouse School System; formulating annual education and strategic plans in partnership with relevant internal stakeholders; upholding the principles and practices as articulated in the Beaconhouse Learner Profile and proposing reviews of this document when required; be committed to social equity and inclusion in all Beaconhouse educational programs.
Assessment and Achievement Monitoring
establishing standards and guidelines for the assessment of all levels and subjects; ensuring the implementation of externally produced standardised assessments to compare the effectiveness of Beaconhouse curricula, student performance and teaching on an international level; reviewing both student and staff assessment tools on a regular basis and analysing their effectiveness in improving student achievement; enhancing student achievement by setting appropriate benchmarks for assessment as well as improvement programs for mixed ability groups of learners.
Curriculum Development
leading a team of educators and curriculum specialists to further develop a solid, research-based approach to educational development in the 21st century; reading and researching developments in international education practice and principles to inform the further development of curriculum, evaluation and assessment standards within the Beaconhouse system; providing oversight and direction into the research and development of new curriculum programmes reflecting international trends; designing and disseminating a school improvement framework that gives all schools the capacity to use data to improve teaching and learning; defining both student centred curricula, and teaching standards and guidelines for all subjects and levels across a large and dynamic educational system; articulating a vision and policy for Digital Learning in Beaconhouse and continuing to improve guidelines on the integration of technology into the curriculum; leading the IB accreditation and licensing requirements in the designated Beaconhouse Schools, along with developing a system for supporting existing IBDP, MYP, and PYP schools across the network;
supervising the development, implementation and evaluation of special pilot programmes or projects.
Staff Training and Development
providing scalable instructional program leadership to all school leaders with specific responsibility for planning, development, implementation, assessment and improvement across all current and future schools; monitoring and evaluating school leaders providing personal feedback and clarity of roles, functions, goals and accountability; developing plans to capitalise on individual leader strengths as well as plans to help them improve and address areas of potential growth with real time feedback; establishing systems for school improvement and ongoing development and monitoring the progress and professional development of all education staff; supervising the design, dissemination and evaluation of teacher training courses and other professional development initiatives; establishing standards for designing, conducting, moderating and evaluating professional development courses.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Beaconhouse is looking for an innovative, inspirational and seasoned educational leader who will build on their current success as a global leader in the education sector. The ideal candidate will have school improvement experience as well as exceptional strategic, organizational, leadership and people skills. They will also be expected to demonstrate evidence of the following skills, capabilities and experience:
possess a degree in education, educational leadership, management and administration preferably up to PhD level; have built up a minimum of 10-15 years of overall experience in education, of which at least 8-10 years have been in education leadership and management roles; show a proven track record of teaching and preferably of having run a school or a network of schools (in the past); taken on an education leadership and/or improvement role that resulted in visible improvements in a K -12 school network with at least 20,000 students; cultivated an understanding of various international curricula such as IB, CIE or IPC and of enquiry and project-based learning; accumulated solid knowledge of curricula and teaching methodologies that enhance student learning; have a comprehensive working knowledge of a school organization and of improvement and change management in education; possess a deep understanding of the opportunities provided by technology for the enhancement of student learning and teacher development; be culturally sensitive with an international outlook; have the cognitive and emotional intelligence to facilitate working with a dynamic group of stakeholders in a dynamic and challenging environment.
APPOINTMENT DETAILS AND HOW TO APPLY
Beaconhouse School System is being assisted in this appointment process by the executive search firm Society. Applications should consist of a CV, ideally accompanied by a brief covering letter addressing the criteria in the Person Specification. These documents can be uploaded via Society’s website: www.society-search.com. The deadline for receipt of applications is midday on Monday 5th June 2017. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview in early July. An appointment will be made subject to receipt of satisfactory references. The appointed candidate will be offered a package that is commensurate with their experience and the seniority of their new role.