WHAT ARE YOUR TEACHERS TEACHING?

Is it true that the quality of teachers we employ depend on their price or certificates? If it is, then what’s the fate of schools who don’t charge much? Let me answer both questions.

1. If you’d not be able to guarantee your parents and your children quality because you think they’re not paying much, then you can not be said to be obedient to your calling. You need to either redefine your role in the whole education value chain or submit yourself to further learning as the case may be.
2. If your fees are too low to afford the children quality teachers, please you need to increase the fees and trim down on the children and also teachers needed. OR sought for grants for other external means to achieve this calling. Anything worth doing at all is worth doing well.
3. If you’re in the business of school with the primary drive of making ends meet or making money, then you may begin to think of other businesses as well because believe me, school, especially when it’s not yet fully grown, is not the biggest money spinner.
4. That finally leads me to answering the question of WHAT ARE YOUR TEACHERS TEACHING? If you’ve appropriately settled items (1) to (3) within yourself, you now need to design a mechanism to assert the level of quality your teachers are delivering. Please don’t take their word for it and don’t be fooled by the purported experience and qualification because, I’m sorry, but:

TEACHERS DON’T DO WHAT YOU EXPECT, THEY ACTUALLY DO WHAT YOU INSPECT

So, inspect and inspect unapologetically.

But you may be asking, Mr Adeniji, how do I inspect every teacher? Wouldn’t this be too much work for me as the school owner?

You see people generally produce better results when they’re made accountable for their responsibilities. Not when they’re left to freestyle.

Have you noticed that children, whose parents purposefully and regularly inspect and assess the school’s performance, end up doing better? So parents also need to inspect us and hold us accountable.

The beauty of leadership is that you don’t have to remain at the level of inspecting or monitoring everyone personally. That’s micromanaging

Teachers monitor students, heads of departments inspect teachers under them, the school heads monitor the HOD’s, the ceo/school owner monitors the School Heads and some random staffs. This structure must be created and enforced over time. No sentiments. That’s how corporate institutions run.

The problem is that we see the school as less of a corporate space than other companies like banks etc. Your school may not be huge yet, but plan it out.

If you do not create this kind of structure, you will be working harder than is required for good health and yet not getting commensurate results

However, until you create this workable inspection structure, the alternative is to keep inspecting your teachers and correcting them clearly but in love and respect. In that way also, you will create a culture of excellence where new teachers will just fit in as they come, and this eases the pressure of continuous inspection on you.

So inspect what your teachers are teaching, purposefully and regularly

Teaching may be taking place while learning is not. Activity is  not tantamount to results. Please don’t be too relaxed, check continuously. Pay attention to QUALITY.  I think The primary task for the school owner is to assure quality and put it first in spite of the uncertainties that surround the edu-business atmosphere and the need to cut costs here and there. Again, the alternative to that perhaps is to look for something else to do.

Teaching may be taking place while learning is not. Activity is  not tantamount to results. Please don’t be too relaxed, check continuously. Pay attention to QUALITY.  I think The primary task for the school owner is to assure quality and put it first in spite of the uncertainties that surround the edu-business atmosphere and the need to cut costs here and there. Again, the alternative to that perhaps is to look for something else to do.

OK, I CAN’T AFFORD QUALITY TEACHERS, BUT I STILL HAVE TO DO BUSINESS

The question is – who really are quality teachers? Those who have NCE or BEd or MEd as the case may be? Or those who are so experienced they can double as the school owner? The answer may be both, and could be none of the above.

A quality teacher is one who has over time developed  enough PATIENCE & RESOLVE to see children successful through whatever level or stage they find them by imparting them sufficiently enough to get them flying at that stage, presenting them confidently to the next stage – even ins spite of the uncertainties surrounding their vocation as a teacher. Conditions such as pay or personal pursuits. So how many of such do you have in your school?

Truth is, these kind of teachers are gradually being hard to find, not expensive, but simply not available in plenty. Here’s what I advice: Know your onions. Build your own structure. Money or no money, it begins with you.

Parents may be engaged in line with your laid down rules, but are they getting a treatment they’ll hardly find better elsewhere? Again the difference is in your preference for QUALITY and your efforts at surpassing your present rating.