Administration while teaching can be both fun and challenging. It sometimes even becomes necessary for the administrative department to involve in teaching, taking up a class or two to have a better understanding of the challenges and requirements of the teachers. Verbal communications and personal experience are different from each other, so why not shuffle up the schedule once in a while!
The admin staff are appointed as per their expertise in the industry and according to the requirements of the school. At times, teachers who want to stop teaching (due to varied reasons) opt for admin jobs, and sometimes admins staff also requests teaching responsibilities to improve their careers.
What can all be achieved by giving out the teaching responsibility to the admin staff? Well, read along.
Try a different thing from your background–
In my experience in the instruction industry, I’ve come to realize that while working with a school, teachers are given all the responsibilities and knowledge about the administration of the school just to be sure that in the absence of any particular officer, the teacher could handle the admin work. Now, when the teachers are sharing admin responsibilities, it is time that we begin helping the teachers with their jobs as well. If admins have a teaching background, then it is ideal for everyone to let them try a hand in teaching, even if it is just a session or two. This would help them explore their teaching talents and give a break to a teacher in case they need a leave of absence or take on other tasks at boarding school.
Be more emphatic-
Teachers everywhere are doing a great job when it comes to instruction, but it is imperative to understand that they get tired too and at times, need help in taking academic sessions. Like they might have children in their class who need extra help, but since they are occupied with the entire class, these children are not receiving the deserved attention from their teacher and might be lagging behind. Now, in such cases, admin staff can help by giving the class a writing or reading assignments while the teacher helps the other students with their academics to bring the entire class on the same page. Supporting a teacher with her teaching can help both the admin staff and the teacher to build a better environment for the students. People love changes and a change of face during the session is just awesome for the students.
Build strong relationships-
A good workplace thrives on the environment and the friendships the employees share with each other. Friendships at the workplace are great to develop mutual bindings and grow as a professional. Helping each other inside the premises with each other’s duties creates a positive environment and enhances individual and group productivity of the school. When admin staff shares the teaching responsibility with the teachers, it gives them a new perspective about the teacher’s challenges and helping them find out new or creative ways to resolve these problems. We are nothing without being human emotions, and in the teaching industry, emotions play a vital role in a successful career.
Maintaining the teaching responsibilities-
One big top-up of administrative staff taking up teaching responsibility is that their own skills are getting improved (that means a better resume). Their involvement in the classroom sessions builds a strong workforce at the school giving out a strong message to the society that this school is run by expert and experienced staff who are eligible to take on any challenges. We, as a society, always need good teachers who know the importance of their role in building a strong functional society ( especially the foundation of the future).
Stick to your priorities-
All the above points are important when we talk about school as a whole. Administrative staff have their own jobs to do which also requires their expertise and good industry experience. Sometimes, when it comes to helping the teachers, shuffling up the admin staff is a good idea, but there must be things that request the expertise of an admin. So, as a principal or the admin itself, you should be aware of the intensity of the job and only then assign teaching responsibility to an admin staff plus their personal interest in the job as well. Priorities matter and the work that needs immediate attention, whether teaching or admin, should be put on the top of the list.
To have a successful term (and many more in the future) in the school, the teachers and the admins need to work along with hand in hand. Shuffling up the responsibilities of these two departments can be fruitful by utilizing their personal perspectives and inputs about the job giving the admin a good vision on how to handle and overcome the shortcomings in the administration of the school. Happy teaching!
