Switching on the local talent resource in international schools.

According to the OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018, the average annual professional development hours for teachers internationally is around 62 hours per year. Some would argue it should be more, some might debate the value of some of that PD but it’s there.

In other industries like healthcare, retail, finance, banking, IT and telecoms, the average number of hours of professional development received each year is also about 60 hours but there is one difference – in those industries, it doesn’t matter which part of the organisation you are from, you have access to the same amount of professional development – it might depend on how long you have been with the business or what level you are at, whereas in the international school sector, teachers almost always have access to many more hours of PD than their colleagues in the business management side of the school do. 

When will Finance, IT, HR and Operations teams be given the same access to professional development and learning support as their teacher peers? 

There is a lot to consider here – it is the road less travelled, so proceeding with caution makes sense. To start requires us looking at THREE things:

1. What are the existing professional qualifications that school management team staff have? Are Finance Directors ACCA certified? Does the HR Manager have an SHRM certification? Does the IT Director have the CITM? Do school leaders and governors know these accreditations and their issuing bodies well enough to assess candidates at interview stage in these professions and does the school look for these at the recruitment stage?
2. When, how and what should make up the professional development that these management team staff receive once they are at a school? Is there a career growth pathway, planned support for professional growth, where does the budget come from?
3. Where can teaching and non-teaching staff come together in professional development? Soft skills development with a focus on areas like team leadership, project management, budgeting, running effective meetings, and reporting are all areas of growth that are common to educators and business managers.

By developing ALL staff, schools respect both the notion of professional growth in general, and allow these school management professionals to be seen on a level with the wonderfully qualified and heavily professionally developed teaching staff. It is appropriate and right that we shine a spotlight here.  

Schools have a wide variety of options available to them when they embark on the professional development of their school business management teams. Here are some approaches that can be considered depending on the stage and needs of the individuals and teams in place: 

• Internal or External Mentoring
• Coaching
• Shadow Days
• Language Lessons
• Observations
• Internal/External Training
• Online study
• Master’s Degree support
• On-the-job training
• Industry body membership
• Conference attendance
• Career Mapping
• High quality appraisals
• 360 appraisals
• Job rotation
• Internship programs
• Group coaching
• E-learning
• In-house workshops
• Day release to further education 
• Supported Local/virtual networking
• Employee wellness programs

With a pay disparity between international teachers and those, often local staff, who work in ‘support’ roles like IT, Admin, HR, Finance and Operations, divisions and rifts can form, and by actively supporting the professional growth of those who work in these functions, schools can reap significant benefits in the areas of school reputation, retention, cross-departmental collaboration, and organisational resilience. 

There is room for much more discussion of this topic in the coming years.