School managers, are by the very nature of their position, knowledge gatherers and disseminators of this knowledge. Managers need always to be on the lookout for materials to encourage their teachers to be the best possible teachers they can.
The approach when deciding on school improvements should be two-fold. Firstly, we can look at what does not work (what should be avoided at all costs) and, secondly, we can look at effective schooling systems the world over to analyse what works in practice and how and why it works.
In the McKinsey&Company report entitled, "How the World's best-performing school systems come out on top", the Introduction (page 13) sums it up for us. McKinsey states that the three most important factors which separate functional from dysfunctional systems are based on the fact that:
1) The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers;
2) The only way to improve outcomes is to improve instruction;
3) The only way for the system to reach the highest performance is to raise the standard of every student.
The three statements above should guide School Management(by providing a solution to school improvement, in three easy steps) to success. We need first to acknowledge that the quality of a school or system is not then based on how much money we spend per capita, nor is it based on class sizes. The quality of an individual school, or school system is determined by the teachers who work within the school or system.
So how do we attract quality teachers into our schools? How do we make teaching an attractive profession again? Government needs to look at allocating more of its spending on education to teachers' salaries to start. To make up for the severe shortage of teachers in South Africa, the government needs too to offer attractive bursaries to top matric candidates who would otherwise enter the private sector on the completion of their studies.
School Management teams need to be rigorous and alert in the selection process when they set out to hire new teachers. A successful teacher has usually been a successful learner; so results matter. Only literate, intelligent and driven people will succeed in the classroom.
In the selection process, apart from a sound academic history, soft skills are of paramount importance. Teachers must be excellent communicators, for that is the essence of their profession. Teachers must have "servant" hearts because the nature of their profession rests on their determination to affect young lives, for generations to come.
Today's teachers need to garner respect not through the threat of corporal punishment (which I believe should be re-introduced)but by their presence in the classroom; a presence which speaks volumes before the teacher has uttered a word. The presence of an excellent teacher in the classroom should say "I am here: to serve, to help you uncover the wonderful mysteries of the universe itself, to share, to guide, to draw alongside and to make sure that you are passionate, enthusiastic, achieving and wanting to learn more, by the time you have passed through my hands."
School Management teams, need therefore to ensure that the interview and selection processes are designed to uncover the soft skills an applicant has. The ability to work with others, versatility, flexibility and a willingness to accept and embrace change will ensure the success of a modern teacher.
If the interviewee appears to have a stock solution to every conceivable situation posed during the interview process, it would be best to move on to the next applicant. If your interviewee is more concerned about discipline than individual learner performance, you may well have a teacher who will spend all day focused on learner behaviour rather than learner achievement; move on.
Move on until you identify the candidate who acknowledges that teaching is most definitely not a half-day job, that teaching is an all-consuming passion, a lifelong commitment, a creative process which strives to attain not an end product, but offers just one small contribution at a time to the ever-changing, developing, growing young clients' lives entrusted to our hands - our learners.
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