Director Curriculum and Instruction

About the job

Job Description: Director of Curriculum and Instruction THIS JOB IS LOCATED IN SOUTH AFRICA

Location: Gqeberha, South Africa

Designation: Full-Time Staff Member (Contracted)

Salary Range: Market related and commensurate with qualifications and experience

Ubuntu School

The Ubuntu School offers students an exceptional education and a transformational pathway out of poverty. Our team instills confidence, creative expression, character growth, and social skills through a flexible, evolving, and child-driven learning model. Through a nurturing environment, high-quality instruction, and world-class wraparound support, we provide everything South Africa's most vulnerable children need to thrive.

Position Overview: The DCI is responsible for instructional leadership of the Ubuntu school program. This includes providing oversight for curriculum and instruction, coaching the teachers, leading professional development, lead data-driven decision-making, and managing all academic assessments. The DCI is an active member of the school’s leadership team, which collaborates weekly on setting the school’s strategic direction.

Specific job responsibilities are as follows:

Direct the overall academic program at Ubuntu School and support the overarching mission of the school. This includes the following:

·       Be the day-to-day instructional leader of the school following the vision for where the school needs to go academically, with collaboration, support, and guidance provided by the CSO.

·       Provide leadership and modeling for teachers in instructional practice, including intervention and differentiation; backwards-designed unit and lesson planning processes; and data analysis cycles.

·       Develop the school schedule to ensure that all students are able to take the classes needed.

·       Collaborate with the College Access Coordinator on individual graduation planning and college planning work.

·     Possess a clear and effective pedagogy that embodies our belief that instruction must be engaging,relevant, and rigorous; ability to clearly communicate this pedagogy with both teachers and external stakeholders.

·       Develop academic support programs as needed to meet students’ needs.

·       Lead weekly professional development and team meetings based on teachers’ needs.

·       Serve as the staff liaison and leader for the school’s accountability meeting that meets monthly.

·       Actively participate in the hiring of academic teachers in collaboration with the executive director.

·       Serve as the school’s assessment coordinator, which includes management of NWEA MAP testing three times per year and state standardized assessments in the spring.

·       Serve as the lead developer of the school’s Unified Improvement Plan. Coordinate review and input fromrelevant stakeholders, including teachers, administrators, the accountability committee, and board of directors.

·       Analyze data on a regular basis to inform instructional decision-making and planning. Data includesinterim assessment analysis from all courses, course pass rates, NWEA MAP data, and standardized test data.

·       Lead implementation of standards-based grading, designed to ensure that grades are closely aligned with mastery of learning targets.

·       Provide leadership for the school’s Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) team.

·       Provide leadership for the school’s gifted and talented program, including identification of qualified students and then development and monitoring of Advanced Learning Plans.

·       Lead academic celebrations as part of weekly community meetings.

2.     Supervise academic teaching staff at the school. This includes the following:

·       Conduct weekly observations of each teacher’s classroom and provide informal constructive feedback to the teacher within 24 hours.

·       Provide at least two individual coaching sessions with each teacher during each nine-week quarter. Provide additional coaching for newer teachers or teachers needing additional support.

·       Identify professional goals for each teacher annually and create professional development plans to support teachers in meeting their goals.

·       Conduct evaluations of academic teachers twice a year (once informally; once formally).

·       Supervise the academic advisor who manages scheduling in Infinite Campus, audits grading and transcripts, and manages individual gradation plans.

Community and Mission-Driven:

·       Believe our students have strengths and assets and work to build on these strengths in their work.

·       Maintain a positive attitude and a solution-based approach to challenges in the work place.

·       Maintain open and consistent communication with students and their families about their academic progress, health success and needs, parenting success and needs, individual graduation plans, and college planning. Also communicate proactively with colleagues about student needs to ensure integrated support.

·       Believe all students deserve an opportunity and are capable of pursuing post-secondary education and careers of their choice.

·       Are committed to restorative justice as a mean of addressing conflicts or challenges in the community, whether between students, staff members, or students and staff members.

·       Are committed to inclusive excellence. This means they are willing to engage in conversations about privilege, power, and equity and are willing to invest time in community-building and professional development based on inclusive excellence.

·       Understand that a two-generational approach requires consideration of both the parent and the child when it comes to difficult decision-making.

·       Are active participants in a supportive professional community that fosters respect, trust, honesty, risk-taking,open-mindedness, flexibility, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

·       Operate in a demanding but rewarding environment that requires staff to be flexible problem- solvers who manage ambiguity and challenges well.

·       Dedicate themselves to the school’s mission and vision, adopting a “whatever-it-takes” attitude in helping our students succeed.

·       Engage in rigorous professional development to build on both personal and school wide strengths and areas of growth to promote the school’s mission and vision.

Qualifications

The DCI is expected to:

·       Have at least five years of experience successfully teaching and providing meaningful leadership in an urban or alternative school, including a track record of dramatically improving student achievement.

·       Master’s degree in education preferred (or a comparable amount of experience).

·       Have experience with teacher coaching and evaluation.

·       Be a highly collaborative, results-oriented, adaptable, problem-solving self-starter.

·       Embrace using data to inform instructional planning and practice. Comfortable using Microsoft Excel, sharingand analyzing student performance results, and humility in constantly working to improve instructional practices.

·       Experience in standards-based, backwards planning.

·       Experience working in an entrepreneurial, dynamic school or related demanding environment.

·       Desire for rigorous professional development and coaching with a focus on continuous improvement and instructional effectiveness.

·       Be positive, thoughtful, passionate, articulate, motivating, and empowering with students and team members.

·       Have excellent written and verbal communication skills.

·       Be computer savvy, with proficiency in email, word processing, spreadsheets, Google Docs, etc.

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Key Responsibilities Include:

● Assist teachers in application of new professional learning.

● Understand and analyze data from multiple sources.

● Use data to identify student learning trends, support with setting goals and modify instruction

● Support student achievement in accordance with school improvement plans.

● Work collaboratively with school administration as an instructional leader.

● Work alongside Classroom Teachers to internalize curriculum, analyze data, and create instructional next steps.

● Demonstrate model lessons and support teachers in using effective instructional strategies to meet students’ diverse learning needs.

● Support with leading professional development by sharing best practices and strategies.

● Assist teachers with understanding and sourcing resources for classroom instruction and planning.

● Assist teachers with planning and pacing of lessons, the development of differentiated lessons, and the selection of best practices to meet the needs of their students.

● Assist teachers in learning new teaching practices and dynamic models that involve experiential investigative and inquiry based learning

● Teach/model lessons in classrooms on a daily/weekly basis, teaching lessons side-by-side with teachers

● Observe teachers’ lessons and provide feedback for professional growth and students’ success

● Implement other approved instructional coaching strategies

● Unquestioned integrity and commitment to the Ubuntu School mission and willingness to serve the Ubuntu School community

● Understanding of challenges and opportunities in a start-up school environment

● Completion of a background check

Application Information & Method

● Send your CV and cover letter via Email to : apply@ubuntupathways.org

● Make sure that you save your CV under your name AND surname.

● If you are not contacted within thirty (30) days after the closing date, you should consider your application to have been unsuccessful.

● Please indicate on your CV whether you have a criminal record, were found guilty of misconduct or have pending criminal or misconduct chargers.

● Applicants may be subjected to any of the following: a security and credit clearance check, a competency assessment, signing a performance contract on appointment and signing an employment contract on appointment.

Only Qualified Applicants will be contacted