A reality is that a school needs to have in place well documented procedures should a staff member not be performing to the standards expected by the school. Staff need to feel that they will always be afforded natural justice and due process. They also need to feel that a drop off in performance, while it needs to be addressed, is not necessarily seen as negative, as it may be a symptom of factors outside the school bearing down on the staff member with the school community there to lend support.
For a Principal to manage the situation of a staff member performing below par is tricky and requires wisdom and courage to manage it for what it is. GD speaks from experience having been through the process that led to the dismissal of a teacher. The process took 6 months to be resolved with the teacher being advised on remedial measures and being given every opportunity to put them into place. GD also cites another case where a teacher being investigated decided during the process to retire, thanking GD for bringing to a head the closure of a career that the teacher never really wanted in the first place. GD has to admit being a bit miffed when he later discovered that a teacher training institution admitted to GD that they let this teacher graduate even though there was much doubt about his capabilities for the job. GD felt that the training institution should have bitten the bullet and saved the young man much anguish as he struggled with a job that did not suit him. When GD officiated in these two cases he was a Superintendent of Schools so came in from the outside and assisted the Principal. It was a tough gig but easier to do as someone from outside the school community. It is much harder for a Principal in situ.
SDP element #21
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Staff welfare, inclusive of
procedures when staff are performing below the core standards expected in the
school.
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Aligned SE criterion
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Criterion #7: My school cares about me as a staff member
and has reasonable expectations of me.
Criterion #10: My school relieves me of the stress of
severely disruptive students.
Criterion #18: We laugh a lot in our school.
|
Current school
documentation and situation
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The school documentation
affirms a commitment to staff welfare and includes clear processes where a
staff member is performing below the core standards of the school’s best
practice. No change is needed for
2016.
|
Development objectives for
2016
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Induct new staff into the
procedures so that they have confidence that they will always be afforded due
process and natural justice.
|
Resources needed
· people,
· money
· time
· location
· stationery
· IT
|
· Mentor teachers
· Tine slots for induction
· A school site process
|
Timeline to achieve the
objective(s)
|
Prior to commencing at the
school in 2016 the new staff will have read and agreed to the relevant
policies.
|
Process for achieving the
objectives
|
Mentor teachers to informally
check that these policies are understood.
|
Outcome(s) of the
assessment of the attainment of the objective(s)
|
New staff understand the
welfare of staff policies and procedures.
|
Trust all this is helping some educational practitioners out there in school land.
May the Force be with you!
GD
