Avoid Making This One Mistake!
The education sector is a constantly evolving, hyper-competitive landscape of challenges. In order to keep pace with the changing needs and demands of the world around, there is an urgent need for school management to take up initiatives that promote regular upskilling and professional development of their teaching staff. The ease and speed with which teachers adapt their approach and teaching methods in sync with the changing environment have a massive impact on both the overall learning outcomes as well as the reputation of their schools as new-age education hubs.
But this is not as easy as it sounds. An upskilling initiative of this scale and consistency requires constant guidance and support from experts and coaches who are equipped to help teachers develop their competencies, assess and adjust their teaching methodologies, and stay updated. A sluggish response or insufficient upskilling may directly impact the school’s standing and reputation, a risk that no school management must be willing to hazard given the abundance of schools and options available for parents.
The On-Ground Need
The SchoolPad team has personally come across several excellent teachers in the last couple of years who are passionate about teaching and are known for their effective methods and impressive learning outcomes. And yet, even with their plethora of experience and knowledge, our conversations with them have revealed that they feel the need to upskill themselves with the modern age tools to ensure their lectures retain their impact. As experienced teachers and educators, most of them intuitively understand that changing dynamics need different approaches, and one must keep abreast of the new developments if they want to remain relevant.
The Mistake
There is no denying that there has been a definite realization on the part of the school management with respect to this need for upskilling given the surge in inquiries about teacher training programs and other learning and development initiatives. Most schools are trying to find ways to incorporate these training programs and taking feedback from the teachers on how they can be used to derive maximum benefit. However, despite their best intentions, there is one big mistake that most school managements tend to make when it comes to these training programs. For most schools, despite a positive intent, these training programs eventually become a routine exercise that teachers participate in without actually being involved or engaged. A lack of proper planning and understanding of what actually makes these training programs effective and engaging renders them mostly useless and just another thing the staff sleepwalks through.
Also Read: The Simplest Hack Every School Must Know To Ensure Their Staff Uses The ERP Optimally
The Missing Piece
At SchoolPad, our experience of working with multiple schools has revealed to us that the most essential element that is missing in these training programs is a competency matrix-based approach. The fact is when it comes to training, irrespective of what the prevailing trend is, there is no one size that can fit everyone. There is no way one can have a single training program designed to deliver effective results for everyone. To make training truly work, we first need to understand the concept of competency.
Competency is the combination of attitude, knowledge, and skills required to achieve the desired results in a job role. A competency matrix is essential because it is a snapshot of the skills that a trainee possesses and the ones they lack. With a competency matrix, training can be customized according to the skills and knowledge specifically needed by individual trainees.
Without a competency matrix for each individual, we might end up giving the same training to everyone, including learnings that may not be needed by everyone. This would result in teachers losing interest in learning the same thing over and over again. A repetitive and generalized training program is bound to be ineffective as the participant teachers would inevitably lose interest and will walk away with no effective or usable takeaways.
Your competency matrix for each individual can be as basic as the one shown below:
Once you have a skill matrix along these lines for each teacher, you’ll be able to plan the training effectively by assessing what training is required for which teacher based on the skills they already possess and the skills they need to acquire or update.
If you want to know more about competency-based skill training and learn how SchoolPad can help you develop your own competency matrix, and optimize learning outcomes, you can write to us at connect@schoolpad.in or click on the request a demo link, and one of our coaches will get in touch with you.
