Is it Possible for a Teacher to be Accountable without Being Essay

Is it Possible for a Teacher to be Accountable without Being Responsible - Essay Example This very link has been described and elaborated in respect to the ability of the teacher to balance the both, in this report. TEACHER’S RESPONSIBILITY The responsibility associated with an instructor is more than any other profession, as every profession demand education set of skills, which are only achieved once the person has undergone studies from a capable teacher, responsible enough to know his role in this world. Furthermore, Hartley (2002, 255) points out that a cheap, one-size-fits-all 'standard' in teacher education may turn out to be ineffective with regard to the promotion of human resources and the competitiveness of the economy in general. The knowledge treasure requires creativity, team-work and self-execution; the teacher being handed complete freedom to built a set of self-assessments and parameters of responsibility. These are the salient features of the modern education policy model which are highly unlikely to be promoted. Furthermore, along with the deman d for educators to conceive added responsibility, this feat is not as easy as it sounds. Therefore, attributing responsibility to a teacher is not a fact that can be gauges like temperature or any other quantitative material (Young 1998, 62). TEACHER’S ACCOUNTABILITY EFFECTS Does accountability affect building or correcting the mechanisms of an education system? This question remains a core debate in the education circles. A different perspective looked into the effects brought upon by the accountability of an educator. The effects study shed light upon the accountability systems, so to create better policy mechanisms, which in turn create a better system and professional excellence (Darling-Hammond &Sykes, 1999) and/or a system that has a reward/punishment setup for the teachers (Odden, 2002). In the modern era, research has shifted its focus from school politics to the performance analysis of the educators and the system in which they thrive. A new angle on accountability e merged as the policy makers shifted their attention on to the special role of teachers as it was before the fancy technology teaching methods took over (Fuhrman, 1999). This new form of observation by the policy makers is an effort towards enhancing the accountability of the educators, while they try to work on the areas of vigilance, observation, performance and open test results, making the system transparent. Critics of this current system; lobby hard for the old system their prime argument being the non-influential relationship between the performance of the teacher and performance of the students and their test-scores. The hard-line example for this fact is the statistics of increased dropout rate since the application of the test-driven policies, specially affecting those students who stood on the borderline of passing and failing (Whitford & Jones, 2000). This in turn has smashed the teacher’s morale in general (McNeil, 2000) and made it a difficult environment for the m as their performance is judged majorly through the stats of students, which more often than not is not the true picture. ACCOUNTABILITY VERSUS RESPONSIBILITY Accountability devices show the importance of decentralizing responsibility of a teacher. National educational authorities have decentralized the responsibility for teaching quality to the school running agencies, which more often than not creates a local accountability system, hence placing more responsibility on the teacher’

How to build a successful team Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

How to build a successful team - Essay Example The team leader is usually elected from the members of the team through voting. There are a number of desirable qualities that a team leader should possess in order to guide the team and keep the people in it together. There are different leadership styles that a leader may adopt in order to be effective at his job, such as visionary leadership, participatory leadership, charismatic leadership, authoritative leadership and others. A leader must be able to visualize the end goal of the team and formulate strategies to bring the team closer to the goal. Also, the leader must know how to listen actively and communicate assertively to influence the members of the team. 2. The Size of the Team The number of people within the team is very important so if the team is to functional and efficient, it needs to be at the right size. Too small teams may be too lean to be effective while too big teams may be difficult to manage. As a general rule, teams must have 8-10 members to be effective. If the group is too big, the members may be divided into smaller sub-groups. 3. Variety of Skills Among Members of the Group The skills of the members of the team are important and it is desirable that these skills be varied. No, it is not a good idea to choose team members that are of the same skills levels and the same frame of mind. Although homogenous types of groups have their own advantages, they also have their own disadvantages and more often than not, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Note that members have to play different roles within the team so if these members have varied skills, they can be assigned to certain tasks that are within their areas of expertise. Also, if the members of the group are of the same skills level and way of thinking, these people may tend to compete with each other instead of complement each other. For a team to stay strong, the people inside the team must complement each other and work together in a harmonious manner. Yes, there may be s ome degree of competition is a heterogeneous team but the competition may not be as fierce as it is in a homogenous team. 4. The Personalities of the Members of the Team The degree of maturity and the overall personalities of the people within the team contribute much to the strength and quality of the team. Choosing the personalities of the people in the team depend on the tasks that need to be done. For instance, if the task requires more mature judgment, it would be best to go for older and more mature team members. On the other hand, if the tasks to be performed require the agility and energy of young people, it would be best to select younger members for the team. However, if the team is to perform varied tasks, having both mature and young team members would be more appropriate. 5. Team Bonding Team bonding is very important to create rapport among the members. Creating a friendly and collegial atmosphere in the team will help facilitate the sharing of ideas and smoothen out t he working relationship between team members. Team bonding activities may include participation in training courses, strategic planning and social activities where the members of the team can interact freely with each other. A good time to promote team bonding is during celebrations of achievements and celebration of certain occasions such as birthdays and the likes. 6. internal conflict resolution mechanism Since teams are composed of individuals with different personalities,