10001methods for better utilization of teachers' professional skills

8/12/2019 10001Methods for Better Utilization of Teachers' Professional Skills

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Methods for Better Utilization of Teachers' Professional SkillsAuthor(s): John J. BowenSource: The Elementary School Journal, Vol. 56, No. 9 (May, 1956), pp. 403-408Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1000173.

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METHODS FOR BETTER UTILIZATION OFTEACHERS' PROFESSIONAL SKILLSJOHN J. BOWENCraneBranch,ChicagoCityJuniorCollege

r11HE term utilization has two dimen-sions. One refers to the broad socialprogramof makingsurethat every qualifiedpersonis workingin the field in which he isprepared; the other refers to the smalleraspect of making sure that a professionallytrained person is spendinghis daily time insuch a way that he is using his expensivelyacquiredskills. In the field of education theefforts to recruit teachers and to enticeprepared persons back into the teachingfieldhave to do with the firstaspect.The presentand anticipatedseriousshort-age of teachers has broughtforthmany sug-gestions and practices concerned with thesecond aspect. The general assumptionseems to be that teachers are operatingabout as efficiently as can be expected andthat the only route to better classroomlearning is to be found in long-term pro-fessional improvement. This goal is as im-portant as ever, but it could also be arguedthat present teachersare using only a frac-tion of the professionalknowledgeand skillthat they already possess-that some wayshould be found so that large classes, poororganization, conflicting goals, and exces-sive detail would not keep teachers fromapproachingtheir true potential.

THE TEACHINGOADAny discussion of utilization of skills ofexisting personnel will have to start withthe idea of teaching load. A report of theNational Education Association shows awork week of 48 hours for the average

teacher in 1950 (6). This time is distributedto areas of activity, which are not too welldefined; but, using the work-classification

headings at face value, the following cate-goriesseem to approachthe subprofessionallevel: preparingmaterials,correctingpapers,and clerical and monitorial duties. Theteacher was spendingabout twelve hours aweek in these activities, in addition to thetime spent in personalpreparation.The recent small-scaleexperiment n BayCity, Michigan(2), showsa workweek of 42hoursin the elementaryschool,with from 12to 19 per cent of the time given to clericalactivity. A job analysis of the classroomday shows that from 21 to 69 per cent ofthe teacher time is spent in tasks that prob-ably do not requireprofessionalcompetence.This study does not include out-of-schoolwork, at least a portionof which would fallwithin this classification.From the standpoint of professionalefficiencyand personalsatisfaction, teacherload cannot be measuredon a simple timesheet. Poorly designed classrooms, fre-quent interruptions, and large classes aremore detrimental to efficiency than area few additionalhours of work. Dependingupon the personality of the teacher, addi-tional hoursin creative planningare proba-bly less tiring than are those spent in me-chanicalchores.One other consideration in load is theincreasing number of activities carried onin the school. There is a growing feelingamong teachers that schools have taken onmany new services without correspondingincreasesin staff and with no curtailment ofolderactivities (6). Even thoughthese addi-tional activities contributeto load, in them-selves they do not justify more auxiliaryservices. The administrator can controlload of this sort by critically examiningthe403

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404 THE ELEMENTARYSCHOOLJOURNAL [Mayprogramin terms of the goals of the schooland eliminating activities that do not fur-ther accomplishmentof those goals.

USE OF TEACHER ASSISTANTSThe necessity forusingthe present teach-ing staff more effectively is obvious. Teach-ers have attained higher levels of trainingand salary over the years, and it is sociallyand economically indefensible to use thesespecializedpersonsforsubprofessionalasks.Every other major professional group hasadopted procedures for using semi-pro-fessional assistants. Teaching seems to bethe last outpost of unassisted professionaleffort (4).To say unassisted is, of course, onlydescriptive of the immediate and dailylevel. Taking the country schoolhouse offifty years ago as a base point, any numberof services have been added. A modernschool of reasonable size will have various

supplementaryservices, starting with thoseof the janitor and going through those ofattendance officer, nurse, child-study spe-cialist, librarian,and visual-aiddepartment.One current difficulty, though, is that thevery multiplicity of these services creates aclerical burden that did not exist when theschoolmasterof 1900was operatinghis ownheating plant.There seem to be several reasons whyschools have been slow to make use of class-room assistants. One reason is that schoolshave been small and, traditionally, theworker in any small operation is a jack-of-all-trades. Another reason is that teachingsalaries have been not much larger thanthose of casual labor and hence there wasno particular economy in hiring anyworkersother than more teachers. Thus ina large school the full-time services ofseveral teachers may be scheduled forlunchroomorcorridor upervision.

DISTRIBUTION OF LOAD BETWEENTEACHER AND ASSISTANT

Deciding which of the classroom activi-ties can best be carried on by a teacher orby an assistant can be approached n several

ways. Almost any person in education willagree that mimeographing or duplicatingteachingmaterials,classroomhousekeeping,and monitorialand clerical tasks are closeto the lower end of the professional-skillspectrumand can obviously be turned overto an assistant.The term obviously is perhaps tooloaded. A delegationof teacherscomplainedto a school official in a large city that en-tirely too much time was spent in copyingstudent records from one list to another.The official replied that this activity wasvaluable because in this way the teacherbecame familiarwith the data on each child.There is sound educationaljustificationforthis attitude, just as there is justificationfor professional supervision of lunchroomsand school corridors. Probably childrenshould always be under the observation ofpersons with the highest level of trainingand skill, but the current contentionis thatwe cannot affordthis luxury.The most rigid approachto the separa-tion of tasks would be to rank all teacheractivities from the most important to theleast important educationally. This rank-order approach has a simple and orderlyringaboutit, but, onsecondexamination,wesee that it can be used only in the crudestway. Any complete rankingwould hinge onthe goals of a particular school and muchyet-to-be-done research. We still know fartoo little about the relation between whata teacher does in the classroomand the rateand kind of growth in the child (3, 4).The approachused in the Bay City ex-periment(2) appearsto be practical.Teach-ersandaides were matchedby personalpref-erence, and the division of labor in theclassroom was left to the teacher. In thisway there was no need to suggest anyhierarchy of professional tasks. The usesthat individualteachers made of their aidesvaried with the classroom procedure,self-confidence,and value system of the teach-ers. Pendingthe developmentof somerigor-ous kind of evaluation of teacher activity,this procedure is the least formal arrange-ment and probably permits the greatest



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406 THE ELEMENTARYSCHOOLJOURNAL [Maythe rate of about $1,700 a year. In somestates special certification would be re-quired for an aide to be paid and to beassignedany classroomresponsibilities.Theimmediate question that arises is whetherpaid teacher aides are a justified luxury.On the basis of published results, this ques-tion can only be partially answered atpresent. This particular aide program isfrankly experimental and includes a smallnumber of classrooms.The extra funds re-quired are provided by the Fund for theAdvancement of Education-a source ofsupport not available to most schools.The aides were hiredfrom the immediatecommunity through the parent-teachers'association and other interested sources.They were matchedto the individualteach-ers by personal preference. Each aideworked directly under a teacher and didthose things he felt qualified to do afterdiscussion with the teacher. In this waymany of the special talents of the aideswere discovered and used.The study presumed at the outset thatits purpose was improvement in qualityof education, improvement of the profes-sional status of the teacher, and avoid-ance of any appearanceof substituting anuntrainedpersonfor the teacher. The studydid not attempt to prove that larger class-room enrolments were desirable but ratherto show that there might be ways of modi-fying less-than-perfect conditions. Thisstudy has implicationsfor the problemscur-rently besetting the schools, but the hopeis that it will show the way to better learn-ing undermore normal conditions.On the basis of the progressreport, theclassrooms with aides had a slightly higherachievement level in subject matter thandid the matched control classrooms. In theless measurable areas-enrichment, par-ticipation, and growth-observation indi-cated that the pupils in the classroomswithaides were happier and more interestedthan those in the control classrooms. Sincethe teachers in the study were selected forenthusiasm and interest, one cannot ex-trapolate too far from the summary oftheir opinions. Some of these, though, may

have wider meaning. The participatingteachers found pleasure in sharing theirdaily plans with an aide, and they wererelieved from the feeling that they wereneglecting an entire class to help an indi-vidual child.The teacher aide, then, occupiesa semi-professionalnichein the schoolorganizationand not only takes over clerical duties andthe helping of individual pupils but alsotakes charge of supervised study and suchother parts of the teacher's job as the aidemay be competent to handle.ADDITIONAL JOB TITLESThe terms masterteacher and super-vising teacher appearin educationallitera-ture, although there is some ambiguity inregard to the former.To some persons theterms seem identical in meaning; to othersthe former refersto a highercertificationorsalary classification (1). There is little inthe teacher-aide arrangement that willpermit a trainedperson to operate only at

the highest levels. The argument that theclassification of master teacher or super-visory teacher would permit adequatefinancialrewardsfor the exceptionalteach-er may have merit,but it wouldappearthatthere is as stronga temptation to lowertheclassificationof the assistants as to upgradethe supervisor.This then becomes a retro-gressive system and a move away from thegoal of the National Education Associationof providingmoreratherthanless individualprofessionalattention for each child (5).USE OF THE BENEFITS OF TEACHER

ASSISTANCEIf some sort of aide program is used,there will be some slack in the daily scheduleof the classroom teacher, which shouldprovide time for planning and for workwith individualpupils. There are two waysin which this benefit may be expended: (1)

to improve existing instructionin classes ofcurrent size and (2) to increase class sizeand meet the desperate need for teachers.Since the immediate and pressing problemis the need for more teachers,the quantita-



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1956] USE OF TEACHERS'PROFESSIONAL KILLS 407tive advantage is probably the one thatwill be stressed in an aide program. Butexisting instruction is not so good that theschools can ignore a development whichshould result in considerable qualitativeimprovement.The alternative between a quantitativeand a qualitative benefit could be thoughtof as a short-rangegoal, eventually blendinginto a long-range goal. If classes of 40-50pupils are used with an aide (many are thislarge without an assistant), the planwould provide short-termhelp. If the ideaof using aides takes root, class sizes maybe kept within reason and the over-allinstructional efficiency can be improved.Another type of benefit which will haveshort- and long-term implications is theimprovementof the teacher's workingcon-ditions. If the daily pressure on theteacher is lessened, there will be an im-provement in morale and a decrease inteacher turnover. Excessive turnover ismore expensive to the American peoplethan is the cost of much higher sal-aries. If there is an improvement inworking conditions, recruitment of newteachers will be easier. It has been foundthat the aide plan has been a promisingsource of supply of future teachers. Theseassistants decide that they like teachingand then securetrainingforfull professionalstatus. The probability is high that theseaides will achieve eventual success inteaching.

PROBLEMS ARISING OUT OF ANAIDE PROGRAM

Change is not without risks, and herethe danger clearly is that a hard-pressedadministrator will be tempted to give anaide full classroom responsibility. Thiscould be met by requiring special certifica-tion, which would allow the aide to workonly under the direction of a certificatedteacher. Such a provision would be betterthan to try to list the jobs that an aidecould legally do.Another possible area of friction couldcome from the attitude of the insecure orthe individualistic teacher who wants no

one in the classroomwith him. It may beassumedthat this genus will becomerareasthe obvious benefits of the aide plan aredemonstrated.Some concern might be felt about thepossibility that the chores formerly doneby the pupilswill be taken over by the aide.This possibility does not loom as a seriousproblem,for the aide will probablybe busyenough so that he will see the personalandeducational advantages of giving the chil-dren certainresponsibilities.The risk that a lazy teacher will, ineffect, turn his class over to the aide is

no greater than that of having a lazy per-son in the classroom to begin with. Thereis even the possibility that the presence ofa potentially critical adult will spur thisteacher to greatereffort.MORETIMEWITHOUT IRING

AN ASSISTANTOneof the least exploredareasof teacherassistance has been that of mechanicaland procedural efficiency. Mechanical de-vices, such as audio-visual aids, have hadsome attention, but little net saving oftime results because of the time requiredto operate them.An intercommunication system shouldsave steps for teachers, but, unless care-fully restricted,it becomes a sourceof inter-ruption and annoyance.An easily operatedduplicatorand a liberal supply of materialswill extendthe servicesof the teacher. There

is certainly no economyin purchasingthesedevices and then imposing a tight budgeton their use.Another fertile area lies in the proceduraland organizational aspect of the dailyclassroomoperation.A numberof activitiescould be greatly simplified or removed al-together. It would seem that a school coulddetermine the absolute minimum of record-keeping required by law and by educa-tional necessity and then decide how fewentries of each item are needed. The nextstep would be to resist all furtherefforts toincrease the recordburden.Office practices have been improved a



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408 THE ELEMENTARYSCHOOLJOURNALgreat deal in the past few years, and muchof the advance could be applied to schoolclerical work. Microfilming eliminates thetransferringof semester records to perma-nent ledgers. Available are simple, knit-ting-needle, punch-card systems for thesortingand filingof data cards;cumulative-recordcardsof a flexiblenature; and multi-copy records that supply carbons as theoriginal is made. All this equipment costsmoney, but a teacher working 48 hours aweek at $4,000 a year costs about $2.30 anhour. It is bad economics to harness sucha personto a pencil.In the proceduralfield, classroominter-ruptions take up much time, often foitrivial reasons. Much that takes place infaculty meetings could be reduced to aduplicatedbulletin. Interruptionsshould bereserved for real emergencies, and facultymeetingscould take on a new dignity.In many high schoolsa teacher must useseveral rooms in a day. This rootless ex-istence can be made much more palatable,and there will be an increase in teacherefficiency, if faculty offices are provided.These need not be large or elaborate, andthey can even be shared, but they shouldbe defininitely assigned to particularteach-ers. This kind of office sounds like a simplerequirement,but to a teacher who carrieshis office in a brief case and does his deskwork where there is a vacant chair, itsounds almost as good as a salary increase.

CONCLUDINGCOMMENTTeacheraides, increased officespace,andthe otherproposalsmade here areexpensive.But, as teachers' salaries increase, educa-

tion must decide, as industry has done,that anything which increases the outputof an expensive employee is a bargain.The income sourcesof schoolsare stretchednow, and to suggest any additionalservicesor materials,no matter how attractive theyappear,will meet with opposition.The sell-ing campaign,if ever started, must empha-size that here are ways to get more out ofour existing investment (preferably in aqualitative sense) with a relative small in-crease in cost.

REFERENCES1. BLAKE,. A. Master Teacher: New Type ofSpecialist, American Association of Uni-versityProfessorsBulletin, XL (June, 1954),239-52.2. CENTRAL MICHIGAN COLLEGE AND THEBAY CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS.A CooperativeStudy for the Better Utilization of TeacherCompetencies.Second ProgressReport, 1955.3. NATIONALCOMMISSIONON TEACHER EDU-CATION AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS.The Certification of Teachers: AdvancingPublic and Professional Welfare. Report ofthe Miami Beach Conference, June, 1953.Washington: National Education Associa-tion, 1953.4. NATIONAL MANPOWER COUNCIL. Proceed-ings ofa Conference ntheUtilizationof Scien-tific and ProfessionalManpower.New York:Columbia University Press, 1954.5. STINNETT, . M. The Professional Ap-proach, NEA Journal, XLIII (November,1954),505.6. Teaching Load in 1950. Research Bulletin

of the National Education Association, Vol.XXIX, No. 1. Washington: Research Divi-sion of the National Education Association,1951.

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