Principals Perceptions Of The Teacher Selection Process

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 158 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (794 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Effect of Principal's Vision on Recruiting and Hiring Teachers for 21st Century Students written by and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Teachers are the foundation for creating a dynamic and effective school environment. A potential teacher's academic background, preparation for teaching, certification status, and previous experience are all important quality indicators. Beyond these indicators, successful teachers need to clearly understand and be willing to address the challenges of the 21st century learner. This study examined the recruitment and hiring processes at a new elementary school. Using a single case study method, the researcher documented the actions of one school leader at a charter elementary school. First, the researcher examined how the school leader's vision for student learning was mirrored in the methodology used to recruit, interview, select and hire teachers. Second, the researcher analyzed the perceptions and reflections of the teachers and the director about the recruitment and hiring process. The researcher gathered the data by conducting individual interviews with the school's director and six newly hired teachers who participated in a highly interactive selection process. Four additional new teachers who were already known to the principal were interviewed in a focus group. The researcher also examined web based and archival materials. The findings indicate that the director made specific decisions to create an interactive and information-rich experience designed to assess 21st century skills. The second finding exposed the reciprocal nature of the hiring process, and the third finding raised the question as to whether or not the recruitment and hiring process clearly communicated the director's vision for the school. There are three recommendations for district practices based on this case study. The first suggests that districts focus on professional development opportunities for school leaders to help them clearly define and articulate 21st century skills. The second is the need for a shift away from the current curricular focus on low-level standards and minimum competencies. The third is to maximize a teacher recruitment and hiring process to discern the skills and habits of teachers most likely to create robust 21st century learning environments. Many areas for future research emerged from this case study. The most important would be a study to determine if the teachers hired did in fact positively impact the academic success of the students while implementing a program grounded in 21st century skills. Another important study would be to examine the effect of the hiring process on teacher retention rates. Finally, it would be important to conduct a study to find out if an alternative hiring process like the one used at HTE would be a feasible practice for regular public schools.