Running Head: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR OFFICE STAFF 1

Professional Development for Office Staff

Leonardo Ramos

San Diego State University

EDL 680
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Abstract

This paper explores various literature regarding the historical role of office staff, and how

it has changed in the last thirty years due to innovations in technology. It also emphasizes the

importance of professional development for office staff, as well as what type of training they are

interested in. Lastly, it looks at how districts have implemented professional development on

G-Suite Apps and some of the benefits it can bring to their work.
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Professional Development for Office Staff

Introduction of link to 20% Project

In my district, we have been implementing G-Suite Apps the last three years. I am

extremely interested in G-Suite tools and love how they can help educators deliver their

curriculum more efficiently. I have done a lot of learning with regards to G-Suite Apps and

became a Google Certified Educator. Last year, I decided to continue my learning and became a

Certified Trainer, yet most of the training I have done has been geared towards teachers and

administrators. After reading Senges book I kept thinking about the idea of moving together as

an organization and wondered why we havent included office staff much when it comes to

learning about G-suite apps. They only had a brief introduction to Google Calendar but most

have not been exposed to all the possibilities and professional development offered in Google

Apps. I wanted to learn more about the work that office staff do and how they can integrate

Google tools. I think it is important for all of us to be on the same page, it does not make sense

that administrators are doing the majority of their work using G-Suite Apps and yet many office

staff do not really know how to use them.

The Historical Role of Office Staff

It is widely known that school secretaries play an instrumental role in the running of a

school. Many have a variety of duties that help not only the administrators but the overall

success of the school. Some duties may include preparing the general correspondence of the

school, greeting the public, making copies, calendaring important school-wide events and a

variety of other tasks that require various skills. In Kidwells Dissertation, he refers to Steinweg

who mentioned: A good school secretary is one of your most valuable staff members,
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contributing to a good first impression, and an overall environment of efficiency, productivity,

and dedication to education. (Kidwell, 2004, p.20)

As it mentions in Bradshaws work Historically, school secretaries have been

extensions of their bosses. As education in America evolved, the "principal teacher" became

known as principal of a school or the building principal. As the workload of the principal became

too extensive, secretaries were added so as to effectively utilize the principal's time. (Bradshaw,

1984, p.18) Bradshaw also provided evidence of surveys with regards to having a competent

secretary, In a 1983 national survey conducted by Professional Secretaries International, it was

found that administrators spent 33 percent of their time on duties and responsibilities which

could be performed by a competent secretary. (Bradshaw, 1984, p. 47)

Technology and Office Staff

In his work, Bradshaw mentions that The explosion of electronic technologies raises a

number of questions for the professional secretary, not the least of which concerns the reaction of

secretaries to the changing office environment. The information age is here--here to stay--and its

primary impact will be to broaden traditional roles of professional secretaries and enhance their

relationship to the management of their organization. Technology invites the secretary to

accomplish tasks through optimum use of time and to exercise management skills and

creativity that haven't even been tapped yet. (Bradshaw, 1984, p. 54) This was written back in

1984 when many of the new technology was not even invented yet so the statement is even more

relevant today as office staff play a critical role in optimizing time management for the school

using various technology tools. Developments in office technology will definitely continue, and

they will bring about further changes in the work of office staff.
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Professional Development for Office Staff

All school employees deserve professional development, but unfortunately many office

staff do not receive it. In Bradshaws work she mentions that Despite the undoubted

essentiality of the school secretary's services and the importance of her role in relation to

students, the principal, teachers, other school staff members, and members of the local

community, she rarely has been included in programs of professional development or training.

(Bradshaw, 1984, p. 54) Bradshaw also goes on to refer to a study of 150 educational

organizations which Found that inservice training contributed to employee effectiveness.

Exploring requirements for "establishing planned, systematic professional development," they

determined that the immediate purpose of such programs was to "bring about change in

individual behavior" as a way of improving "organizational effectiveness". (Bradshaw, 1984, p.

57)

Bradshaw also uses the results of an extensive study reported by Phi Delta Kappan

magazine as to what constitutes effective professional development education. She states the six

major items that constitute effective professional development in education as:

1. Professional development should be designed so that programs are integrated into and

supported by the organization within which they function.

2. Collaborative approaches to professional development are the most effective.

3. Professional development should be grounded in the needs of the participants.

4. Professional development programs should be responsive to changing needs.

5. Professional development programs should be accessible to participants.

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6. Professional development activities should be evaluated continually by participants

and others affected by the program to (a) determine needs, (b) plan programs, (c) revise

activities, and (d) judge impact. (Bradshaw, 1984, p. 59)

What type of Professional Development are Office Staff interested in?

If professional development should be grounded in the needs of the participants, then

what type of professional development do office staff need? The Journal Record article

Changing Technology, Restructuring Alters Role for Secretaries, mentions that Secretaries want

to continue to improve their skills so they can be more productive and help their employers

compete in today's marketplace. And with better training and higher pay, we can attract and keep

better people in the profession." I was amazed by the statistics that in 1993 more than 95

percent use word processing software, 72 percent operate spreadsheet software, 46 percent use

database software, 19 percent handle desktop publishing and 16 percent utilize financial

software. According to the survey, Secretaries seek additional training in the following areas:

computer software, supervision, time management, communication, negotiating, interpersonal

skills, organization, teamwork and ethics. This article provided data from 1993, so I realize it

definitely needs to be updated but the numbers were definitely surprising given that it was more

than 20 years ago. I know the numbers would be even higher now and I am very interested in

finding more recent studies and surveys that gather information as to the type of training that

secretaries want.

In Bradleys work, she discussed how it is important for secretaries to continue their

learning. Secretaries work is so diverse and they need to be able to perform such a variety of

duties that it is important that they always continue to learn new tools and skills. To keep up
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with technological changes and enhance career opportunities, today's prospective secretaries

need to continue their education beyond high school. (Bradley, 1996, p.1) It is important that

all staff is considered when offering professional development. All staff members are crucial to

the success of a school, therefore districts need to begin to integrate office staff more when they

consider what professional development is offered.

Districts Professional Development on G-Suite Tools

Many districts are trying to implement G-Suite tools with all of their staff. In the article

Westwind Welcome Back they talked about how in the past four years the Westwind teachers

learned how collaboration can be instrumental in helping students. The superintendent decided it

was important to have professional development that would Show some 300 teachers, school

secretaries and librarians online applications which can further the work they've been doing with

Professional Learning Communities. (Westwind, 2014, p.1) Their district already has

school-based professional learning communities that use technology and now they would also

add six, two-hour Google Fridays where the staff could collaborate online. It is important that

more districts include all staff when implementing new tools like G-Suite and not limit the

professional development to only teachers.

In my own district, one of the goals stated in our Technology Plan is Technology

training shall be provided to all personnel in an effective, systematic, and on-going manner.

(LBUSD, 2013, p.10) It is interesting that in the plan we include all personnel, but in reality

most of the professional development has been for teachers and administrators only. It is

important that office staff is also included in professional development.

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Advantages of G-Suite Tools for Office Staff

One of the greatest advantages of using G-Suite tools with all staff members of a school

or district is the ability to collaborate more efficiently. It allows users to share content via a

variety of file formats that can be shared or edited online. Google Docs facilitates ease of

collaboration with multiple editors to simultaneously make changes to the same document in real

time. Additionally, geographic location, platform dependency, and compatibility issues are no

longer restraining factors. With revision history, users can easily see all changes with different

time-stamps, compare different versions of the same document, merge documents, as well as

revert to previous versions of a document. (Awuah, 2015, p.16)

G-Suite provides access to many applications online which allows users the flexibility to

access them on multiple devices and Google Apps has the most well-known applications

available within the cloud which includes word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation

software; in addition, all that is necessary to access them is an internet connection and web

browser. Google Apps focus is on collaboration, communication, and organization. (Cahill,

2011, p. 35)

There is considerable evidence that office staff play a critical role in the success of a

school. Innovations in technology have changed their role and duties as well as the skills they

need to acquire. It is imperative that professional development is offered to all school staff so

that they can continue their learning and continue to improve their skills. Many districts are

offering professional development on G-Suite tools to teachers and administrators but they are

missing a great opportunity by not providing the same professional development to all staff
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members. There are many advantages of using G-Suite tools that would definitely help staff do

their work more efficiently.

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References

Awuah, L. (2015). Supporting 21st-Century Teaching and Learning: The Role of Google Apps
for Education. Journal of Instructional Research, 4(2015). Retrieved from
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1127612.pdf

Bradley, M. O. (1996, Sep 18). "Just keep learning,' area secretaries urge // technology has
dramatically changed job, they say. The Patriot Retrieved from
http://libproxy.sdsu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.sdsu.edu/docview/27312
5640?accountid=13758

Bradshaw, D. A. (1984). Characteristics Of The Secretaries Of The Utah Public School

Principals (Order No. 8427774). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I;
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global: The Humanities and Social Sciences Collection.
(303327144). Retrieved from
http://libproxy.sdsu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.sdsu.edu/docview/30332
7144?accountid=13758

Cahill, J. L. (2011). The collaborative benefits of google apps education edition in higher
education (Order No. 3493233). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I;
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global: The Humanities and Social Sciences Collection.
(919708594). Retrieved from
http://libproxy.sdsu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.sdsu.edu/docview/91970
8594?accountid=13758

Changing technology, restructuring alters role for secretaries. (1993, Apr 21). Journal Record
Retrieved from
http://libproxy.sdsu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.sdsu.edu/docview/25939
5257?accountid=13758

Kidwell, J. P. (2004). Job satisfaction of public elementary school secretaries in san bernardino
county (Order No. 3155246). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I; ProQuest
Dissertations & Theses Global: The Humanities and Social Sciences Collection. (305105154).
Retrieved from
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5154?accountid=13758

LBUSD Tech Use Plan. (2013, July 1). Retrieved July 10, 2017, from
http://www.lbschools.net/Departments/Curriculum/Technology/
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Secretaries and administrative assistants. (2005). (). Washington: U.S. Superintendent of

Documents. Retrieved from
http://libproxy.sdsu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.sdsu.edu/docview/
189341813?accountid=13758

Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: the art and practice of the learning organization. New
York: Doubleday.

Westwind welcome back. (2014, Sep 04). Cardston Temple City Star Retrieved from
http://libproxy.sdsu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.sdsu.edu/docview/
1560416706?accountid=13758