By
Radhakrishnan Chettour
Most of us get confused to
decide or determine whether the school is good to admit our children or to join
as a faculty or staff. Today it’s more complicated because of the mushrooming
of school brands and their aggressive marketing strategies. How do we know if
the school where we are teaching is the right one for us? How can you tell
before you even take a job there? What are some of the key characteristics of
effective schools? Here are 10 ways to know if your school is effective.
1. Attitude of the Office Staff
This might seem an odd first
choice. However, the first thing that greets you when you enter a school is the
office staff. Their actions set the tone for the rest of the school. If the
front office is inviting for teachers, parents, and students, then the school leadership
values customer service. However, if the office staff is confused, unhappy and
rude, you must question whether the school as a whole including its Principal
has the correct attitude towards customer service and teamwork. Be wary of
schools where the staff is just not approachable. You as a teacher will
probably find that if the staff has a pervasive unhelpful attitude they will
not provide you with the support you need throughout the year.
2. Attitude of the Principal
Just as with the office
staff, you will probably have the ability to meet with the Principal of your
school before you actually begin working there or admitting the child. His or
her attitude is extremely important for you and the school as a whole. An
effective Principal should be open, encouraging, and innovative. They should be
student-centered in their decisions. They should also empower teachers while
providing with the necessary support and training to grow each year. If you
could ‘t meet the Principal on the given time of appointment you can make sure
that after joining for duty to meet such a Principal will be very difficult. Analyse
after meeting with the Principal how the Principal answered your queries on
duties and responsibilities, pay and perks, professional development, performance
appraisal system, etc. Suppose the
Principal could answer your queries in a satisfactory and convincing manner,
then you can perceive that the school has certain system and procedures. If the
Principal asks other than the subject you applied which all subject you can handle,
guess that at any moment of time teachers used to leave the school and other
teachers are given the responsibility of teaching those subjects. Principals
who are never present, who have horrible customer service, or who are not open
to innovation will be difficult to work for and will probably result in many
disgruntled employees. After the interview process look at the coordination
part of the interview board and check whether there were contradictions within
the board while you were interviewed. If you find contradictions within the
board you can make sure that top level management has difference of opinion and
to work in such an organization will be difficult. Finally, watch around the
office and tables to get an idea whether the Principal has organizational and
management traits. If the office is in disarray, you can guess that the
Principal lacks organizational skills and that will reflect on the way the
school runs.
3. Mix of New and Veteran Teachers
New teachers come into a school fired
up to teach and innovate. Many of them truly believe that they can make a
difference. At the same time, they often have a lot to learn about classroom
management and the inner workings of the school system. On the other hand,
veteran teachers provide years of experience and understanding of how to
effectively manage their classrooms and get things done in the school. At the
same time, they are also sometimes stuck in their way of teaching a subject and
might be wary of innovation. Only through a mix of the new and old can both
learn and grow. So check the retention rate of teachers before you join. Google
through the web you can find how many times and at what frequency the school
posted job ads and for what all posts. Repeated frequent ads shows poor
retention rate and lack of job security. This brings me to my next item...
4. Student-Centered Attitude With Core Values
To be truly effective, a
Principal must create a system of core values which the entire staff shares. To
do this, the Principal must involve the teachers and staff each step of the
way. A common theme to each of the core values must be a student-centered view
of education. When a decision is made in the school, the first thought should
always be "What's best for the students?" When everyone shares this
belief infighting will lessen and the school can focus on the business of teaching.
If a conflict occurs between staff members, then they should first meet and
together decide what is best for the students. With this focus there is no
doubt that the final decision will be more effective and much easier to accept
by all parties.
5. Mentoring and induction Program
Most schools provide new
teachers with a mentor during their first year. Some have very formal mentoring
programs and others are more relaxed. This should happen whether the teacher is
fresh out of college or coming from another school. Effective schools have
strong core values that each teacher knows. Only by pairing a new teacher with
a mentor who truly believes these core values will the school's mission be
fulfilled. On a more practical side, a mentor can help a new teacher learn the
ropes. They will introduce them to key office staff and help them navigate the procedures
involved with items such as field trips and procuring items from the store. Many
schools even conduct group induction programs or individualized induction
programs to introduce the new staff to the school culture and practices. This
will help in creating ‘a feel good’ feeling for the new faculty. Most of the
time new teachers become a laughing stock because they get involved into things
that they are not expected to in the school. Lack of knowledge of systems and
procedures of the new school is the reason for this embarrassing situation.
This kind of situation may lead to disappointment at the very outset and can
even lead to attrition. This issue can be well tacked by group or individualized
induction program.
6. Departmental Politics Kept to a Minimum
Almost every department in a
school will have its share of politics and drama. For example, a Mathematics
Department might have teachers who want more power or who try and get a larger
share of the department's resources. There will probably be some sort of
seniority system set up for picking courses for the following year or
determining who gets to go to specific conferences. However, a quality school
will not allow this type of behavior to undermine the quality of teaching
students. Again, this starts with quality leadership from the Principal on
down. The school leadership should be clear on its goals for each department
and work with the department heads to create a collaborative environment where
politics are kept to a minimum. For this to happen Principal should keep himself/herself
away from partisanship and balance delegation of responsibilities between
departments.
7. Faculty is Empowered and Involved
When the faculty is
empowered to make decisions backed up by the administration, a level of trust
grows which allows for greater innovation and more effective teaching. An
individual who feels empowered and involved in the decision-making process will
not only have greater job satisfaction but will also be better able to accept
decisions with which they might not agree. As before this starts with the
Principal and the shared core values that all relate back to determining what's
best for students. A school where teacher opinions are not valued and they feel
powerless will result in disgruntled teachers who do not have the desire to put
as much into their teaching. You can tell this type of school if you hear
phrases such as "Why bother?"
8. Teamwork Amongst the Faculty
Even in the best of schools
there will be teachers who do not want to share with others. They will be the
ones who get to school in the morning, close themselves in their room, and
don't come out except for mandatory meetings. If the majority of the teachers
at your school do this, then the school has a problem. Instead, a quality
school will create an atmosphere where teachers want to share with each other.
This should be something which the school leadership should model. Schools
which reward intra- and inter-departmental sharing will see a huge increase in
the quality of classroom teaching. It is a proven fact that an integrated
curriculum is more effective for the student than learning each topic in
isolation.
9. Communication Is Honest and Frequent
The school leadership in a
quality school provides teachers, staff, students, and parents with frequent
communication about what is happening. Rumors and gossip are rampant in many
schools. Many of these rumors can lead to disgruntled employees. If the school
is not communicating the reasons for decisions or upcoming changes as soon as
they can, then rumor mills will take effect the results can be devastating.
Therefore, it is important that the school leadership models frequent
communication and has an open door policy so that teachers and staff can come
forward with questions and concerns as they arise. Make sure that the school
and the leadership are an open book.
10. Parental Involvement
Many schools do not stress parental
involvement in their child's education. It is the school's job to pull parents
in and help them understand what they can do. Some teachers do not want to
bother. However, the more you as a teacher involve the parents, the better the
children will behave and perform in your class. Many parents want to know
what's going on in class but have no way of figuring out how to do this. A
school which stresses parental contact for both positive and negative reasons
is one which will only grow more effective over time. Thankfully, this is
something that each teacher can institute even if the school as a whole does
not stress this involvement. School leadership must also take initiative to conduct
frequent parental workshops and interactive sessions with teachers for guiding
parents on what they can do to help children do better in academics, co-scholastic
activities and emotional aspects.
For your Success and Glory!
Read, Learn and Flourish!
