#217 - Chapter 217 The Benefits of Expanding the Faculty

Expand the teaching staff?

This suggestion caught Dumbledore off guard.

Historically, Hogwarts has always followed the tradition of one professor per subject, with no precedent for expanding the professorate.

If we expand the professorate, how will the teaching work of each subject be coordinated?

Dumbledore frowned, seriously considering Sebastian's suggestion.

Watching Dumbledore sink into thought, Sebastian sighed inwardly.

This idea had been in his mind for more than just a day or two.

Being prescient, he was very worried that the final battle from the original story would really play out at Hogwarts Castle.

Therefore, he had long wanted Headmaster Dumbledore to recruit more professors to expand Hogwarts' fighting power, at least to bring in a few more powerful wizards.

Otherwise, they couldn't keep sending students to the battlefield, could they?

Even if we take a step back, recruiting more professors would be a good thing for the existing professors.

The teaching workload on the shoulders of Hogwarts professors is heavy, far exceeding that of teachers in ordinary schools.

Firstly, they have to teach not only theoretical knowledge but also hands-on practical magic courses, which makes each class full of challenges and pressure.

Taking teaching students below the fifth year as an example, each professor of a required course needs to teach at least two long classes a week to students of each grade, which means that the curriculum arrangement for each grade must be meticulous and thorough.

Even when it comes to the advanced classes in the sixth and seventh years, where all students are concentrated together, it only temporarily reduces the pressure on the professors.

Calculated, each professor needs to teach at least 12 long classes per week.

However, teaching is not their only task.

In addition to teaching students in the classroom, professors also spend a lot of time writing test papers and preparing for students' assignments.

The more arduous task is grading students' papers and assignments, especially the papers of senior students, which requires them to deeply review the content and provide detailed feedback.

In addition, students' after-school tutoring and answering questions are also responsibilities that professors cannot ignore.

Many students often come to them in their spare time for help, from complex spell problems to potion recipes, these extra tasks multiply the daily workload of the professors.

What's more, many professors often hold multiple positions.

For example, Professor Snape is not only responsible for the Potions class but also takes care of the students of Slytherin House, responsible for their life and study. In addition, he is also one of the heads of the Duelling Club.

And Professor McGonagall, as the Transfiguration professor, also serves as the Head of Gryffindor House and Deputy Headmistress. She has to take into account student affairs, academic management, curriculum coordination, and so on, simply being too busy to handle everything.

In short, the workload of Hogwarts professors is somewhat excessive and not humane at all.

Thinking of this, Sebastian pressed on while the iron was hot: "Headmaster, your consideration is good, writing lesson plans will indeed increase the burden on the professors."

"The existing professors bear heavy teaching responsibilities. Like Professor McGonagall, she has to teach twelve long classes a week, plus guiding students' after-school assignments, grading papers, and dealing with the increasing number of student questions. This does not include internal house affairs and the work of various clubs."

He paused, recalling Professor McGonagall often looking exhausted.

"At this pace, over time, even the most outstanding professors will feel exhausted. This not only affects their teaching quality but also deprives them of the space to creatively perform in the classroom."

Dumbledore nodded slightly, placing his hands together on the table, quietly waiting for him to continue.

"If we can recruit some new professors," Sebastian continued, his tone more firm, "the teaching burden of all professors can be reduced a lot."

"When the teaching burden of each professor is reduced, they will have more time and energy to carefully prepare courses and design more interesting and in-depth classroom content."

"Professors can have more time to delve into their own academic fields and then bring the new knowledge they have researched back to the classroom, directly benefiting the students."

"You're right, Sebastian," Professor McGonagall said excitedly, "Professors can not only delve into academic research themselves but also train and guide some outstanding students to conduct research together."

"In this way, Hogwarts' academic level will inevitably reach a new level."

"In recent years, no Hogwarts students have published papers."

Hearing Professor McGonagall's words, Dumbledore nodded repeatedly, his brows relaxed a little, and the smile on his face deepened a little.

"There are even more advantages," Sebastian said, looking at the two professors.

"When professors have more time, they can better focus on the growth needs of each student."

"This can not only help students master knowledge more quickly but also allow students to receive more personalized guidance in and out of the classroom, trying to teach students according to their aptitude as much as possible."

Sebastian took out a specific reform plan and handed it to the two professors.

"These are the specific management measures after recruiting more new professors."

"My idea is to let these current professors with rich teaching experience become the subject leaders of the courses they teach."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, revealing a hint of curiosity: "Subject leaders?"

"Yes," Sebastian nodded, explaining, "Subject leaders need rich teaching experience, and they decide the selection of textbooks for this course."

"They are also responsible for reviewing the lesson plan preparation of new professors, and if there are unreasonable places, they can point them out in time to help new professors quickly integrate into the Hogwarts teaching system."

"In this way, Hogwarts' overall teaching quality will not only not decline due to the expansion but will instead improve due to this collaborative mechanism."

"Sebastian," Professor McGonagall asked, "The other subjects are fine, but what about Care of Magical Creatures and Defence Against the Dark Arts?"

"Let's talk about Care of Magical Creatures first," Sebastian smiled slightly, "Hagrid's special experience means that he has not received complete education and training."

"Therefore, to make Hagrid a qualified professor, we must find someone with rich teaching experience to restrain and guide him more."

"My suggestion is to hire Mr. Newt Scamander to be the subject leader of Care of Magical Creatures."

"Based on my communication with Mr. Scamander, I think he would be happy to contribute to Hogwarts and make more students fall in love with magical creatures."

"As for Defence Against the Dark Arts..." Sebastian shook his head.

"The particularity of this course makes recruiting new professors difficult."

"Moreover, with the situation of changing professors every year, it is indeed difficult for new professors to prepare lesson plans."

"For this special situation, we can only treat it specially."

"I think," Sebastian said firmly, "it is best to find an experienced professor to prepare a reference lesson plan for all Defence Against the Dark Arts classes from the first to seventh year."

"Each year's new professor will prepare lessons and arrange teaching plans according to this example."

"In this way, we can effectively avoid the problem of different teaching progress and different teaching content from year to year."

"As for the candidate for this..."

Sebastian looked at Dumbledore, grinning.

"I think Headmaster, you are very suitable!"

......

...