Identify the mechanisms for effective management of incompetency teachers

Document Type : Qualitative Research Paper

Authors

1 . Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Faculty of Psychology & Education, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

2 . Professor, Department of Education, Faculty of Psychology & Education, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

3 . M.A in Educational Management, Department of Education, Faculty of Psychology & Education, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

4 . Assistant Professor, Department of psychology, Faculty of Psychology & Education, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

This study aims to identify effective mechanisms for managing unqualified teachers. The literature review found that the education system still has teachers working in our country and in other countries. It does not have the minimum standards required for teaching positions. The study applied the qualitative approach by using semi-structured interviews to gather data. Since the data were collected based on the lived experience of the interviewees, the research methodology employed is phenomenological. The research field (participants) consisted of three groups of heads of education departments, primary school directors and academic experts in the professional qualifications of teachers. The criterion for selecting the officials of the education departments and the principals of the primary schools was that they were directly involved in implementing the evaluation of the professional qualifications of the teachers and dealing with the unqualified teachers, and they were responsible for this task. The criterion for selecting academic specialists is those who have specialized and theoretical knowledge and who can look at this issue scientifically. Finally, more comprehensive results were obtained by linking scientific and academic aspects to administrative and practical aspects. Finally, the sample members of 19 people, including nine officials of the Education Department of Markazi Province, five primary school principals of Markazi Province and five university education specialists, were purposefully selected and interviewed. The data was analyzed based on the qualitative nature of the information obtained during the interview, extracted similar concepts, and coded (Klaizi method). This process is referred to as protocol phrases, and phrases directly related to the studied phenomenon have been deleted. Indeed, after reviewing each interview, the sections that could be considered the initial code of research objectives were identified and chosen as the initial concept. Then, the typical initial concepts of the top categories were classified as concepts related to the efficient management of unqualified teachers. Finally, the concepts identified were classified into more comprehensive categories. To ensure the validity of the search, four Lincoln and Guba tests were used. The following has been done: (1) A copy of the interview and a summary of the questions asked. The answers given by the respondents were provided to them to find out their reaction at the reporting stage. (2) The researcher tried to spend more time interviewing university experts in the area. 3) The researchers tried to describe the full details of the research, from sampling to data analysis. 4) To verify their validity, the reports and research notes were reviewed by two researchers, and both yielded relatively similar results. (5) To verify the reliability of the findings, all interviews were documented and implemented with accuracy. The data were reduced with summaries and brief notes, the coding principles extracted the data, and the themes were extracted. To evaluate the reliability of the research, two methods of agreement between the two coders (intra-subject agreement) and new reliability (stability index) were used, both of which are reliable. In the first question of the interview, we attempted to answer the question: what are the current attitudes toward unqualified teachers?
The interviews on the second question of the research show seventeen types of attitudes by school principals towards unqualified teachers: transfer of unqualified teachers to other schools, appointment to different roles and positions, and transfer to non-qualified positions. The most common methods used with unqualified teachers were voluntary transfer to another school in the same educational district, voluntary transfer to a non-educational place, transfer to another school, and other common strategies. Deportation, dismissal and expulsion were among the most common procedures. As a result, the inadequacy, comprehensiveness and effectiveness of the existing methods necessitate establishing an efficient management system with a long-term and purposeful view, and radical and precise measures in the field of teachers are unnecessary. In the second question of the interview, including the scientific and practical opinions and suggestions of respondents, we attempted to develop a model for how managers deal with unqualified teachers. As a result, four categories of preventive, corrective, monitoring and punitive actions were identified for dealing with unqualified teachers. Preventive actions include; designing an effective recruitment system based on professional competencies, improving the quality of teacher training courses, designing and implementing mechanisms related to culture building, paying attention to motivational factors and environmental health factors, enriching teachers 'jobs, raising teachers' competencies as concerns, identifying challenges, The issue of the incompetence of teachers in a systematic way is the design and implementation of appropriate mechanisms to encourage and support qualified teachers, select and employ skilled managers, planning. Corrective actions include design and implementation of development and improvement courses by colleagues, design and implementation of teacher empowerment programs by educational specialists, design and implementation of teacher empowerment programs with self-development system, design and implementation of teacher empowerment programs by principals and providing feedback on unqualified teachers to himself, the director and officials of the department. Monitoring actions include continuous monitoring and tracking of teacher performance and progress. Finally, punitive measures involve designing and implementing indirect, punitive approaches. As a result, prevention, correction, supervision and punishment mechanisms need to be developed and implemented to manage unqualified teachers effectively

Keywords


Alqiawi, D., & Ezzeldin, S. M. (2015). Suggested Model for Developing and Assessing Competence of Prospective Teachers in Faculties of Education. World Journal of Education, 5(6):65-73.
Andrews, H. (2019). Time to bite the bullet on removing incompetent Teachers. Leadership in Education, 8(1): 1-13.
Barron, E. (2019). Primary head teachers' perceptions of schools' roles in training teachers within a changing landscape of teacher training. In Pupil, Teacher and Family Voice in Educational Institutions. Routledge.PP.158-171.
Bridges, E. M., & Groves, B. (1990). Managing the incompetent teacher. Eugene, OR: ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management, College of Education, University of Oregon.
Burns, E., Fogelgarn, R., & Billett, P. (2020). Teacher-targeted Bullying and Harassment in Australian schools; a challenge to teacher Wellbeing. British Journal of sociology of Education, 41(5):523-538.
Essex, N. L. (2012). School law and the public schools: A practical guide for educational leaders. Upper Saddle River, NJ; Pearson Education.
Ghorbani, S., Jafari, S. E. M., & Sharifian, F. (2018). Learning to Be: Teachers' Competences and Practical Solutions: A Step towards Sustainable Development. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 20(1):20-45.
Gruaf, C. A. (2015) .Principals' Perceptions of Incompetent Teachers: Incidence Rates, Characteristics, and Barriers to Dismissal in Missouri. Theses and Dissertations. University of Arkansas, Fayettevill. PP.1-158.
Guitert, M., Romeu, T., & Baztán, P. (2021). The digital competence framework for primary and secondary schools in Europe. European Journal of Education, 56(1):133-149.
Hanushek, E. A., Kain, J. F., Rivkin, S. G., & Branch, G. F. (2007). Charter School Quality and Parental Decision Making with School Choice. Journal of Public economics, 91(5):823-848.
Honary, H. (2018). Designing the model and competencies and characteristics of physical education and sports teachers. Research project. Tehran: Allameh Tabatabai University. Document number 764. [In Persian].
Kearney, P., Plax, T. G., & Allen, T. H. (2002). Understanding student reactions to teachers who misbehave. In J.L. Chesebro & J.C. McCroskey (Eds). Communication for Teachers (pp.127-140). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Lawrence, C. E. (2005). The marginal teacher: A step-by-step guide to fair procedures for identification and dismissal. Corwin Press.
Painter, S. R. (2000). Principals' perceptions of barriers to teacher dismissal. Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education14(3): 253-264.
Marzoughi, S., Ahmadi, H., & Khalaji, H. R. (2020). Presenting a Model for Promoting the Professional Competency among EFL Teachers: A Grounded Theory Approach. Iranian journal of educational sociology, 3(4): 127-139. [In Persian].
Mirkamali, S. M. (2011). Educational leadership and management. Published by Yastroon. Tehran. [In Persian].
Mirkamali, S. M., Narenji Thani, F., & Asadi, S. (2019). Evaluation of professional competences of elementary teachers "from the perspective of administrators" in Markazi province. Journal of School Administration (JSA), 7(3), 86-69. [In Persian].
Mukhamadovna, T. M., Sharipovna, H. A., & Supkhonovna, H. N. (2020). The system of development of professional competence in future primary school teachers. SYSTEM, 7(13):2020.
Range, B. G., Duncan, H. E., DayScherz, S., & Hanies, C. A. (2012). School Leaders' Perceptions about Incompetent Teachers: Implications for Supervision and Evaluation. NASSP Bulletin. SAGE, 96 (4):303-322.
Ramírez-Montoya, M. S., Loaiza-Aguirre, M. I., Zúñiga-Ojeda, A., & Portuguez-Castro, M. (2021). Characterization of the Teaching Profile within the Framework of Education 4.0. Future Internet, 13(4):91-108
Shabani, H. (2016). Educational skills (teaching methods and techniques. Tehran: Samt Publications. [In Persian].
Sinurat, H., Ginting, S. A., & Lubis, S. (2020). An analysis of teacher pedagogical misconduct in teaching English. Register Journal of English Language Teaching of FBS-Unimed, 8(3):1-19
Theophile, M. S., Faustin, M. B., & Benjamin, B. (2020). The effect of unqualified teachers on students'academic performance at rusoro Secondeary School of gakenke districtrwanda. International Journal of All Research Writings, 2(2): 1-10.
Tucker, P. (1997). Where All Teachers Are Competent or, Have We Come to Terms with the Problem of Incompetent Teachers. Personnel Evaluation in Education, 11, 103- 126.
Venter, L., & Viljoen, T. (2020). A Systems Perspective on School Improvement with a Focus on Teachers. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 33(3): 265-293.
Zaragoza, M. C., Díaz-Gibson, J., Caparrós, A. F., & Solé, S. L. (2021). The teacher of the 21st century: professional competencies in Catalonia today. Educational Studies47(2): 217-237.