MY SCHOOL by Dr .Nilesh Gopal das Joshi (beginner reading books for adults .txt) 📕

provided in a variety of ways. The students need his guidance in the selection of subjects at the secondary stage where diversification of courses take place. In order to be competent, he/she must understand the implications of aptitude, interest, intelligence and achievement in the choice of subjects leading to connected vocations and vocational courses. Guidance may be required by the students in their day to day difficulties in learning and other activities. The teachers may also need guidance in teaching work and other activities. They may face problems of discipline, truancy etc. for which they may have to consult the headmaster. The parents may also seek guidance for educational as well as other problems of their wards. The higher authorities may seek the opinion and point of view of the headmaster in matters of curriculum revision, selection of text books, framing of educational policies and educational problems arising from time to time. The students may also seek guidance in purely personal problems, emotional and mental difficulties, ethical norms, parental interference in their affairs and various other complications. The headmaster has to enjoy the confidence and trust of his students so that they easily divulge their secrets and fears. The headmaster has to evolve and adopt appropriate remedial measures in cases which suffer from various educational and emotional problems.

The headmaster should set up a guidance corner in the school and establish contacts with state level Guidance Bureau, Employment Officers, and Employers. The effective functioning of this service will necessitate a lot of data collection, record keeping, reporting, follow-up and liaison with many other agencies.

Now let us discuss Some specific responsibilities of HM

The first one is regarding

School Supplies

This involves planning of infrastructure facilities. Estimates are to be prepared regarding the quantity of purchases to be made. Specification of each item is to be laid down and quotations have to be invited and approved by the headmaster. Goods ordered should be inspected and checked on arrival. Headmaster will appoint a selection committee for the purchase and maintenance of equipment.

The 2nd responsibility is with respect to

School Campus

School plant should provide adequate educational services. Best use of all the rooms, laboratories, workshops and the farm is made. In case of over-crowding, students may attend laboratories in groups. School may be used for its specific uses. All school buildings should be guarded against building hazards. The perfect up-keep of the school campus is the lookout of the headmaster.

The 3rd duty is

Co-curricular Activities

The over-all management of school co-curricular activities is the headmaster’s responsibility. Various activities may of course be distributed amongst the staff members in accordance with their previous background, interest and aptitude. Adequate budget allotment should be made for these activities. All wastage and unnecessary expenditure should be checked.

The last duty being

Office management

The modern conception of the headmaster’s office is that, it is a service centre. Communication with higher authorities, the parents, the public, the teacher and the students is made by the headmaster. For the efficient functioning the following should be made available. The office must be located at a suitable place. It must be adequately spaced and proper up-keep ensured. Office work must be distributed adequately among members of the office staff. Headmaster must supervise their work, check irregularities, check inefficiency and ensure regular and prompt work. Thus:

Headmaster must decide the time to be devoted for office work. Headmaster must make note of his office duties. Duties of Headmaster prescribed by education department and managing committee should be strictly followed. The headmaster should strictly obey the rules and regulations of school board to which the school is affiliated. Routine duties of the headmaster should be admission, checking class registers, cash book, acquittance roll, attendance registers and accounts of various fees and fines.

All these general duties and specific responsibilities of the headmaster would make better schools.

Chapter: 7 PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

Teacher performance management is a continuous process for identifying, evaluating and developing the work performance of teachers, so that the goals and objectives of the school are more effectively achieved, at the same time benefiting teachers in terms of recognition of performance, professional development and career guidance.

We shall now discuss the Meaning and Definition of performance appraisal

Performance appraisal is the systematic evaluation of the performance of the employees/teachers to understand the abilities of a person for further growth and development. Performance appraisal is to assess the performance of an individual in relation to the objectives, activities, outputs and targets of a job over a given period of time. It is done in systematic ways, which are:

The supervisors compare the pay of employees with the targets and plans and evaluate an employee’s work behavior by comparing it with present standards. The supervisors will analyse the factors behind work performance of employees Uses the results to provide feedback to the employee to show where improvements are needed and why The employers role is to guide the employees for a better performance.

According to Edwin B, Flippo, “Performance appraisal is a systematic, periodic and so far as humanly possible, the impartial rating of an employee’s excellence in matters pertaining to his /her present job and  potentialities for a better job”.

All schools should have now put in place certain key components of performance management, such as staff appraisal system, induction and professional development of teachers. The first and foremost step in establishing the appraisal system is to define the objectives of the appraisal, which in turn decides the criteria and procedures of appraisal. The appraisal system applicable to one school may not be so for another. Before establishing the teacher appraisal system, schools should understand their culture, their educational goals and the needs of the various parties (the school, teachers and students) and then decide on the methods and criteria for appraisal.

High quality teaching is essential to improve student outcomes and reducing gaps in student achievement. The Teacher Performance Appraisal System provides teachers with meaningful appraisals that encourage professional learning and growth. The process is designed to foster teacher development and identify opportunities for additional support where required. It helps teachers achieve their full potential, with high levels of student performance.

These are contained in new regulations that cover teacher appraisal and a model policy that covers both appraisal and capability. Together they form one of a number of changes that are designed to improve the quality of teaching.

The new regulations on teacher appraisal are mandatory for maintaining schools and local authorities. They give schools and local authorities more freedom to design appraisal policies that suit their own individual circumstances.

Rationale for this change shall be discussed now

Firstly, The evidence from around the world shows us that the most important factor in determining the effectiveness of a school system is the quality of its teachers. Secondly, Good teachers make a profound difference. Third, The majority of teachers in our schools are highly competent professionals who are committed to providing good education for our children. Where teachers do not meet the standards that are expected of the profession, it is important that head teachers have the freedom and authority to tackle under-performance. Fourth, No one is helped when poor performance remains un-addressed. Under-performing teachers place additional pressures on their colleagues and let down the children in their care.

We shall now see the Objectives of Performance Appraisal in school

Performance appraisal can be done with certain objectives in mind: They are:

To set agreed performance targets and monitor the progress by measuring actual performance against the targets To assist school management in assessing teacher’s performance ensuring that teacher commit to their duties and that they develop their teaching effectiveness in order to provide quality education. To help identify and resolve cases of underperformance. To provide school management with proper records, which serve as important references in the selection for promotion and in helping underachieving teachers. To recognize the achievements of teachers, appraise effective teaching practice and encourage the development of quality teaching. To provide constructive feedback to individual teachers. To assist teachers in identifying their potential and, ways for improvement, so as to raise their professional standard and improve their team spirit, which support the overall development of the school. To provide guidance, counseling and training to teachers having difficulties in their performance. To provide relevant information on human resource development for schools to plan appropriate teacher development activities. To provide feedback to employees about their performance and status. To assess the potential present in a teacher for further growth and development. To identify strength and weakness of teacher to place right men on right job. To maintain records in order to determine compensation packages, wage structure, salary increment etc. To determine levels of competence To increase teacher efficiency, effectiveness and good performance. And lastly, To ensure that teachers perform their duties with integrity and maintain a positive vigilant attitude towards all learning activities.

There are certain Advantages of Performance Appraisal. Let us see some of those:

It is said that performance appraisal is an investment for the company or any organization which can be justified by certain advantages like:

1.Accountability: Performance appraisal ensures that teachers/employees commit to their duties and that they develop their teaching effectiveness in order to provide quality education.

2.Feedback: It provides constructive feedback to individual teachers/employees.

3.Promotion and Compensation: Performance Appraisal helps the head to consider teachers for further promotion and compensation. Efficient teachers can be promoted to higher post and proper compensation can be provided.

4.Professional Development: The systematic procedure of performance appraisal helps the supervisors to frame training policies and programmes. It helps to analyse strengths and weaknesses of teachers leading to their professional enrichment.

5.Selection Validation: Performance appraisal helps the supervisors to understand the validity and importance of the selection procedure. The supervisors come to know the validity and thereby the strengths and weaknesses of selection procedure. Future changes in selection methods can be made in this regard.

6.Communication: For an organization, effective communication between employees and employers is very important. Through performance appraisal, communication can be sought for in the following ways:

Through performance appraisal, the head can understand and accept skills of subordinates. The subordinates can also understand and create a trust and confidence in superiors. It also helps in maintaining cordial and congenial labour management relationship. It develops the spirit of work and boosts the morale of employees/teachers. All the above factors ensure effective communication.

7.Motivation: Performance appraisal serves as a motivation tool. Through evaluating performance of teachers, their efficiency can be determined if the targets are achieved. This very well motivates a teacher for better job and helps him to improve his performance in the future.

And last is Quality Enhancement: It helps to enhance teacher efficiency, effectiveness and performance.

Now let us see what we mean by PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL OF TEACHERS

The appraisal of teachers should focus on the performance and not on the personality. The appraisal should focus on the following items: teaching and teaching related duties, non-teaching duties and professional and personal competence. Each teacher should have a job description outlining his/her responsibilities and scope of work. This can serve as a reference in deciding the areas of appraisal. The areas of appraisal should be in line with the school goals, major concerns of the current year and programme plans under various subjects. Some of the major components of teacher performance appraisal are:

Educational leadership: The extent to which the teacher is making an impact on teaching and learning beyond his/her own teaching, as evidenced by leadership in teaching innovations, scholarship of teaching and learning, and other forms of contributions leading to system-wide impact. Contribution to development/management: The extent to which the teacher is