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How to ensure quality teacher enrolment in primary and secondary level?

Introduction:
Education stands out as the best cost-effective means for increasing human capital, reducing poverty and
achieving sustainable economic growth and development. It is a key determinant for enhancing the
productive capacities of individuals and aggregate level of economic growth. Quality education rests
largely on finding and keeping good teachers. Yet, many teachers leave the profession, whether because
of frustration with the system or planned retirements.

High Quality Teachers


Arguments persist over how to define the characteristics of a good teacher. For example, it is not
clear that a persons content knowledge, verbal skills, or enthusiasm for learning, necessarily
mark a person as likely to be a successful teacher. Moreover, the appropriate indicators of
quality might well depend on the circumstances and the context of the teaching.
Below are a few examples of the characteristics of a high quality teacher:
An Engaging Personality and Teaching Style: A great teacher is very engaging and holds the
attention of students in all discussions.
Effective Discipline Skills: A great teacher has effective discipline skills and can promote
positive behaviors and change in the classroom.
Good Classroom Management Skills: A great teacher has good classroom management skills and
can ensure good student behavior, effective study and work habits, and an overall sense of
respect in the classroom.
Knowledge of Subject Matter: A great teacher has incredible knowledge of the subject matter
they are teaching. They are prepared to answer questions and keep the material interesting for the
students.
Strong Verbal skills: A great teacher has to have strong verbal and communication skills to
achieve maximum success in his profession.
Enthusiasm for learning: A great teacher must be enthusiastic and passionate about his profession
and to gain further knowledge about his subject matter to improve his teaching skills.

Ensuring High Quality Teacher enrolment:

Among the approaches currently used to recruit teachers are improved salaries, better work
benefits, acceptable work hours and outreach to students in high school to encourage them to
pursue teaching as a career.
There are lots of ways we can ensure high quality teacher enrolment. Here are a few of them:
Recruiting Well-Prepared High-Need Teachers Who Stay In Teaching:
One of the most successful teacher recruitment initiatives is recruiting well-prepared high-need
teachers who honestly want to build a strong career in teaching. This ensures a persons
commitment to his profession and dedication to his job. Also, well-prepared candidates ensure
good teaching quality.
Recruiting Expert Veteran Teachers to Hard-to-Staff Schools:
Another good way is to recruit experienced teachers in the underperforming primary and
secondary schools across the country. We can use salary incentives to attract teachers to hard-tostaff schools, a strategy that has had mixed success in the few places that have tried it. In some
places, this has proved a modestly productive approach.
Creating High-Quality Teacher Education Programs in High-Need Areas:
Most important are models that can simultaneously improve teacher competence and retention
and meet pressing supply needs. Because many teacher candidates choose to teach where they
grew up or went to college, it is important to have strong programs in hard-to-staff urban and
rural locations.
However, many alternative programs, and some traditional programs, fail to provide one of the
most important elements of preparation the opportunity to learn under the direct supervision of
expert teachers working in schools that serve high-need students well. Teaching cannot be
learned from books or even from being mentored periodically. Teachers must see expert
practices modeled and must practice them with help. This fundamental problem has to be tackled
and solved if we are to prepare an adequate supply of teachers who will enter urban or poor rural
classrooms competent to work effectively with the neediest students and confident enough to
stay in teaching in these areas.

Recruiting High quality Teachers:


Historically, the teacher hiring process has always been pressure-filled be-cause of the large
pools of applicants and short hir-ing windows. Too often, interviews were (and in some cases
continue to be) hasty rituals squeezed between other administrative tasks. With todays shrinking
candidate pools, principals are being challenged not only to identify the best candi-dates, but in
many cases to convince them to accept teaching positions.

Here are some insights on the interview and teacher selection process that can help us select and
hire highly qualified candidates that not only meet our criteria but are also critical assets in
turning around failing schools.
The Recruitment and Selection division of Human Resources handles the screening and hiring of
principals, assistant principals, teachers, and other specialized school based staff members. Due
to the volume of applicants for each open position, the process has changed to ensure the
strongest candidate for each role is selected.
Candidates who successfully pass the application and file review process will enter the ready to
staff hiring pool. We anticipate an average of five days from screening the application to entry
into the hiring pool.
Principals will schedule interviews with candidates in the hiring pool. The interview process will
differ per school, and in general can include sample lessons, writing samples, and content
assessments. In-person placement events will be an opportunity for candidates to access
Principals and school leaders and display skill sets to further the interview process.
Thoughtful questions allow candi-dates to demonstrate their strengths, admit their weaknesses,
and reveal their beliefs about curriculum, classroom discipline, school culture, collegiality, and
commitment to the profession. Consider questions like these:

Why did you want to become a teacher?

Are you willing to teach subjects and grade levels that require you to stretch
professionally?

If you and a colleague are not get-ting along, what would you do to seek a more
collaborative relationship?

In your view, what is the purpose of discipline in the classroom?

Why did you choose to apply for this position?

What was the most creative lesson you ever taught?

What was the most inspiring thing you have done as an educator?

What do you think will impede your ability to contribute to our community?

What sort of assessments do you use in the classroom?

What is your favorite lesson to teach?

If you are hired, in what area do you think you would require the most support?

We could also try a behavioral interview, a non-traditional approach that helps gauge a
candidates potential (Kretovics 1996). This technique is based on the idea that the best predictor
of a candidates future performance is his or her past achievements. Kretovics suggests using
questions such as Give me an example of a time when and Tell me about a situation in
which you Even if you are interviewing a freshly graduated teacher, you can still ask such
questions, based on their student teaching experience. Unexpected questions allow us to see how
candidates think on their feet and are creative in their answers. However, we have to make sure
that the questions are contextually appropriate to the interview and that the candidate is able to
see the connection.
In their answers, well also be able to tell if candidates did their home-work. Are they able to
express to you that they took the time to learn about your school through district office
newsletters, board meetings, or com-munity members? If so, you have just learned that the
person answering your questions is thorough and serious about winning the position.

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