Development of New Staff Knowledge And Skills for Student Performance

There have been massive changes to education. Changes include university amalgamations, modifications to governance of the University, the introduction of student fees, diversified profiles of staff and students, alternatives to funding arrangements and the introduction of quality reviews. More importantly there has been a reduction in staff levels and a change from an elite system for high achieving, eager, mostly young students and small classes, to a mass higher education system with increased student numbers, class sizes and range of student entering abilities and experiences. Taken together, these changes increase the difficulty of teaching in a university. Old ways of approaching teaching may not be appropriate under these new arrangements and new ways of supporting teaching have had to be found.

In the teaching and learning process, staff plays a very important role in implementing new knowledge and skills among their students. Nowadays, the new age in which we live is characterized by a high priority for development. There is an inevitable knowledge explosion which carries its power of development. Man’s modern knowledge is therefore, ambivalent (Bauzon, 2000). In addition, it is important also that in today’s information age, different knowledge and skills must be viewed as crucial for educated person to cope with a rapidly changing world. Many educators believe that specific knowledge will not be significant for tomorrow’s students as the ability to learn and make sense will rapidly change for this new generation. In lieu with this, the world is hungry for new knowledge and new skills. These new developments must aim to enable staff to be effective and helpful for the students’ performances. Thus, this will tackle the new staff knowledge and skills for student performance, how this new knowledge and skilled are applied and the importance of the support of the manager in applying the new skills.

It is very valuable that staff members will be able to develop new knowledge and skills in order to help their students well. Often new staffs are not yet in position to determine the nature of students’ performance in the learning process. Although there is a need to support traditional staff development, there is also a need to model new teaching strategies and skills required for teaching successfully in the world. There are many ways through which staff can be developed in order to acquire new skills and development that would be helpful in assessing students’ performance. Hence, this essay will focus on two ways such as acquiring new knowledge and skills through workshops and trainings, peer discussion or discussion together with co-teachers.

Professional or staff development in schools must be considered with very high priority. Developing the knowledge and professional skills of teachers and principals and other staff members must be included. The growth of staff development programs in recent years has resulted from a belief that these programs are necessary to increase student achievement. A growing bed research on the effectiveness of staff improvement programs that will be helpful in acquiring and implementing new knowledge and skills has identified the characteristics of productive programs.

The characteristics are as follow; connectedness to school settings and to school wide efforts; Involvement of teachers as planners; providing choice and differentiated learning opportunities; use of demonstration, supervised practice, and feedback as a part of training; and ongoing assistance and support. Although there are many ways in which educators may learn, training continues to be the dominant model. In many districts, training equals staff development. Recently, descriptions of differentiated models of staff development were provided to demonstrate that there are many ways in addition to training to improve job-related knowledge, skills, or attitudes.

In acquiring such knowledge and skills staff members must participated in different workshops and training opportunities on a regular basis rather than sporadically and infrequently. Conducting such workshops and training is a great tool in enhancing the staff’s eagerness to acquire new knowledge and skills. In line with the acquisition of this new knowledge and skills, authorities involve should broadened the subject matter of training and the categories of staff who were trained. Broadening both who was trained and the areas of training was critical for all stakeholders to be active participants in the decision-making process and for teachers to change their teaching practices and beliefs. In terms of subject matter, professional development activities must be oriented toward building a school wide capacity for change, creating a professional learning community, and developing a shared knowledge base.

Given the necessary skills for the teaching and learning process vary from those in face-to-face teaching, clearly staff development and training or workshop is a major factor for any institution wishing to produce new knowledge and skill for the improvement of students’ performance. It is important that an institution can fully engage its staff in such development, i.e. both staff commitment and staff development are required. Obtaining such commitment and staff development is not simple task, given the number of other duties and responsibilities that a staff member may have and given that some staff does not agree with such a new way of teaching (Collis & Moonen, 2001). Such a problem can be eased whereby staff development events do not only serve to provide staff with the necessary skills and self-confidence, but can also act as a platform for an exchange of staff experiences. This in turn can lead to a more positive attitudinal viewpoint where staff sees colleagues embracing new knowledge and skills and receive a positive message as to the benefits of such new skills. The suggestion that training sessions should do more than supply the necessary skills must be supported.

In addition to training and workshops in teaching, learning, curriculum, and assessment, schools offered instruction in interpersonal skills (group decision making, consensus building, and conflict resolution); and in leadership skills (running meetings, budgeting, and interviewing). Furthermore, the schools per se had greater proportions of the staff take part in professional development. In particular, training in the area of decision-making skills was not limited to members of the school council. As a result, schools had teachers, administrators, office staff, support personnel, parents, and, in some cases at the secondary level, students receiving many different kinds of training. Moreover, the schools should not view professional development as an individual activity that, this will be a big hindrance in acquiring new knowledge and skills. The target group for training must be comparatively large number of individuals who sat on the formal site council.

Secondly, acquiring this new knowledge and skills may be difficult but through peer teaching or discussion with other co-teachers, acquisition and implementation of these skills will not be difficult as it is. This is also called gaining and sharing expertise through peer coaching. With this, the staff and teachers continue to refine their structural practice and share practical wisdom with other peers.

Peer coaching or peer teaching is defined as a professional development method that has been shown to increase collegiality and improve teaching in the acquisition of new skills and knowledge. It is a confidential process through which teachers share their expertise and provide one another with feedback, support, and assistance for the purpose of refining present skills, learning new skills, and/or solving classroom-related problems (Dalton and Moir, 1991). Peer coaching also refers to in-class training by a supportive peer who helps the teacher apply skills learned in a workshop. Coached teachers experience significant positive changes in their behaviors, when provided with an appropriate program that insures accountability, support, companionship, and specific feedback over an extended period of time.

Coaching is an ongoing process that involves a training stage followed by various extensions of that training. One model describes five functions of successful peer coaching. These include companionship in which teachers talk about their successes and failures with a new model of teaching and reducing their sense of isolation. Next is the use of feedback, here the teachers give each other objective, non-evaluative feedback about the way they are executing skills required by a new model. Then it follows by analysis by which all the teachers and staff members help each other extend their control over a new knowledge and skills until it is internalized, spontaneous, and flexible enough to be used in the teaching-learning process. In peer coaching it is staff must also consider the adaptation. Through this teachers work together to fit a teaching model to the special needs of students in the class. Last but not the least is the need for support. These must be provided by managers by which whatever support is needed as the peer teacher begins to apply the new knowledge and skills will be given (Showers, 1984).

In line with their support, the manager should provide professional development opportunities for staff. This will enable the staff to progress their skills and knowledge even more and improve the quality of their performance as they apply this new skills and knowledge. It is accepted that staff development is necessary for job satisfaction, good morale and retention. While there are no established steps for general staff career promotion, there are many opportunities for career development within the University. The onus for utilizing these opportunities rests upon the individual and requires strategic decision making about professional goals. The managers should therefore encouraged staff to take some responsibility for their own career progression, by identifying the skills and abilities that will be required in the changing world of work. To this end, the manager urges staff to select mutually beneficial courses and seek out opportunities for personal and professional development.

Moreover, it is very important that the managers should impose the power of partnerships among the staff. Rather than accumulating power, the manager should see their role as sharing power. It is important also that managers will learn the best practice which requires that the people delivering the support feel respected, trusted, and valued. Managers cannot just change the way that they talk, they must change the way that they act. They have to change the practices of their corporation to reflect the values that underlie partnership. Obviously, if the staff felt that they are respected they too will respect the manager and this will help encourage and motivate the staff to work hard for the sake of their project which is to apply new skills and knowledge.

And since changes and development is happening everyday and the world is facing a tremendous growth of technology, the authorities must be able to note that as part of their professional or staff development is the changes and technological advancement. Through the use of technology, the implementation of such new skills and knowledge for the improvement of students’ performance will enable each member to be involved generally. Technology can help teachers continue to learn throughout their careers by overcoming time and distance barriers to training opportunities. Telecommunications can facilitate teacher collaboration and sharing of planning resources. Teachers can make use of multimedia technology to create more effective classroom presentations. Desktop publishing can also help teachers create more effective print instructional materials. The decision-making process also can be facilitated for teachers through the use of technology in collecting, storing, and exchanging information. Distance learning can be used to learn and teach others and to interact on important research related topics.

Hence, staff sees themselves as having a responsibility to provide advice to students about effective ways to study. As responsibility for staff development through the acquisition of new knowledge and skills has been spread throughout the school system, the role of the staff development department has become even more important. Staff development departments are assisting teachers and administrators by offering training and ongoing support in acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills to assume their new responsibilities, by providing one-to-one coaching of these individuals in their new roles, and by facilitating meetings that are best led by individuals who are outside that particular group, among other responsibilities.

In a way there is consensus that teaching is satisfying, with satisfaction being derived from a range of activities associated with teaching. There is also consensus that teaching could be more effective if workloads were lower, and that it needs to be supported by the provision of staff development support. The teacher is the ultimate model for the learner. He or she must demonstrate the value of life-long learning by seeking professional growth. This means regularly enrolling in graduate courses, participating in workshops and conferences, and collaborating with other teachers to enhance his or her development and effectiveness. Techniques such as peer coaching, mentoring, curriculum development, research, and leadership development are just a few of the many ways in which teachers grow as professionals to become better at what they do.

In addition, school boards and administrators must recognize the importance of a well-trained teaching staff that is applying new skills and knowledge in their teaching. They provide incentives such as graduate credits, pay increases, and other rewards for teachers to continue in their professional development.

There are different researches that have been conducted on how staff can develop and grow professionally that they can use it for the students. Research on professional development, has led to some clear findings. When teachers are passive participants in "one shot" in-service training sessions where an "expert" exposes them to new educational ideas, there is little likelihood that it will lead to a significant change in instructional practice. In fact, many teachers don't even see a connection between these events and their instructional practice. Some important implementation considerations that need to be acknowledged are the following.

Staff development and acquisition and implementation of new knowledge and skills is not a one-time event but is instead ongoing and immersed in a strong support group of other learners who help and learn from each other. Teachers and administrators must be involved in the planning and implementation of the staff development. Providers must incorporate research-based adult learning strategies that include hands-on, concrete activities that directly link to a participant's every day responsibilities. On-going support must be built in that allows participants to obtain clarifications and guidance. Participant's knowledge and skills are acknowledged and the staff development builds on those skills and knowledge in ways that neither "talk down to nor frustrate" participants. Furthermore, staff development is provided at times when teachers and administrators are able to focus on those tasks.

All in all, it is also viewed that teaching is moving beyond mere acquisition of knowledge. They assign high levels of importance to a range of more generic skills, including the critical use of knowledge and the effective communication of that knowledge. Most were sensitive to the need for students to be provided with advice about various ways to improve the effectiveness of their learning, and see the provision of this advice as a responsibility of the staff in their ability to create or develop new knowledge and skills for student performance. And through a harmonious relationship that the manager and the staff have, there is a great probability that the application or implementation of the new knowledge and skills adopted form the new technology will be successful in helping the student performance.

Acquisition and implementation of new knowledge and skills among staff members is effective when it demonstrates its impact on its ultimate goal which is improving student learning. It supports high quality teaching-learning and leadership by helping each staff improved and developed their content of knowledge, expand their instructional repertoire, integrate technology in their daily work and strengthen their assessment skills.

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