Case Study:: The Organization and Management of Staff Development in Primary and Secondary Schools

• Autores: Peter Leckstein
• Localización: Innovations in education and teaching international, ISSN 1470-3297, Vol. 31, Nº 1, 1994, págs. 38-43
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The management and organization of staff development activities in 34 schools in outer London was surveyed during the academic year 1992/93. Schools completed a detailed questionnaire on four aspects of staff development ‐ audit of needs; factors influencing staff development; management of staff development programmes; and evaluation. All schools audit their staff development needs and the majority consult staff extensively before any programme is prepared. The identification of activities is influenced by a variety of factors, the most important of which has been the implementation of the National Curriculum and assessment arrangements linked to the school development plan, and reports from LEA inspectors and HMI. Staff development in core subjects remains a key concern for schools, as do activities associated with whole school issues, such as planning and appraisal. The greatest constraint in the successful implementation of staff development programmes is the lack of time available to release teachers from their classes. Only a minority of schools identify the staffing costs, cover and course fees in their staff development plans. As a consequence, many schools need to develop procedures to demonstrate that they are obtaining value for money from staff development activities. The evaluation of staff development is most usually carried out through informal discussions between staff, the observation of learning and analysis of assessment and examination results. Schools reported that staff development programmes led to improvements in various aspects of the curriculum, management and pupils’ learning, including the teaching of National Curriculum subjects, planning, differentiation, the management of pupil behaviour, delegation of responsibility and communications.