Managing a school with all its departments and their different needs whilst striving for noble goals stated in the school mission is surely a great challenge for any school management. In order to create a quality culture, all the participants of this system must work together, give their contribution and take ownership of the quality enhancement.
In addition to the efforts put into improving the quality of the teaching process and the relationship between students and teachers, using high technology tools can help in supporting the academic and administrative processes within the school and make it easier to achieve the goals.
Everyone has a role!!
All the participants of the educational process – the teaching staff, students and managers – are responsible for the quality developments but they all have different roles.
Students are responsible for their regular attendance, active participation in learning activities and evaluations, student organisations, forums and committees. The teaching staff needs to be familiar with all the system procedures, curriculums and be prepared to propose improvements in any aspects they see the need and the school management has a responsibility for ensuring that quality development is integrated into all aspects of school operations.
1. Importance of teacher-student relationship
Education analysts have recognised a long time ago that a critical ingredient for students’ successful learning is their relationship with teachers. As students spend around 1000 hours per year with their teachers, there’s a lot of opportunities for teachers to develop and leverage strong relationships. There’s plenty of time to ignite the students’ passion for lifelong learning, spark their curiosity and get them socially engaged.
Basic goals of any teacher are to instruct students, connect with them on a deeper level, show understanding and respect of their culture and affirm their worthiness to get the best education possible. Strong teacher-student relationships are associated in both short and long-term improvement goals – higher academic engagement, grades, attendance and fewer disruptive incidents and lower dropout rates.
Also Read: Different levels of management
2. Improving the teacher-student relationship
One ingredient that always adds to the quality of a teacher-student relationship is empathy. Many studies show that teachers who are empathetic towards and with their students are more capable of managing their behaviour and academic engagement.
What is also necessary is to make an effort to understand the differences that exist in students’ perceptions and class expectations since the evidence shows that cultural differences between students and teachers can lead to misunderstandings especially around styles, languages and norms. This is why it’s necessary to teach and model perspective taking for students in classes.
Another thing that can greatly help in improving relations for teachers themselves is modern digital technologies as they can greatly upgrade teachers’ operational efficiency. Using a cloud-based educational software for teachers allows better student learning evaluation and helps differentiate teaching to address different student needs, individualise and manage student learning plans to improve performance, monitor student progress, allow access to data anytime on any device and saves precious time.
3. Quality SBM system
A well-functioning SBM (school-based management) system is an essential ingredient for improving a school’s learning environment and this is something that good school leaders with a great vision can offer. Having an effective SBM with clear directions regarding teacher development, students and materials and finance allocation can have a strong and positive impact on the commitment and motivation of both students and teachers. Such a system would successfully facilitate school leadership by catering to the unique context and needs of the school community, establishing effective and fair teacher appraisal systems, developing and implementing school improvement plans, building partnerships with the community and making sure there is support for the function of all school departments and personnel.
School managers who are prepared and skilled to use their extensive knowledge to solve complex school-based issues can positively contribute to school effectiveness and build trust by establishing working relationships with teachers, students, parents and the community. With strong instructional leadership, school managers can focus on planning, coordination, evaluation and improvement to get a more positive student learning results.
Managing a school is a complex process but what lies at its core is the teaching process and the relationship between the teachers and students. When there’s a well-organised and coordinated system of all the structural elements, then the teaching process flows unhindered and the teacher-student relationships can thrive.
Need for School Management Systems
Having an efficient school management system brings in a couple of benefits. Here’s how:
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Streamlined administrative systems
There are multiple administrative tasks that go on in the background in order to run a school smoothly. This includes enrollment, grading, scheduling, and so much more. A solid school management system can effortlessly streamline all these administrative tasks, thereby reducing the chances of errors and also saving a great deal of time.
2. Better communication and improved collaboration
With a school management system in place, it is easy to improve the flow of communication among all the stakeholders- parents, students and teachers. Such systems come equipped with features such as messaging, email, forums, notice boards etc., which facilitate easy communication among parents, teachers and students. A school management system proves to be extra beneficial in the case of remote learning.
3. Convenient data management
Another major benefit of deploying a school management system is the seamless management of data. You will never feel drowned in the sea of student data again. With such a system, it is possible to manage all the data from a centralized database. Be it grades, test scores, or personal data, you can get access to everything within a few clicks.
This again reduces any chances of errors. Accessing student data and updating them whenever required also gets easy. Teachers, parents, and students thus get complete clarity about student progress and performance.
4. Boosted student engagement
A school management system helps in improving students’ participation. Features like virtual quizzes, group projects, forums, etc., help students stay motivated and focused. It makes the interactions more engaging and personalized, thereby leading to better results and student satisfaction.
5. Secure financial management
Looking for a system that helps you simplify the school finances? A school management system can help streamline finances by leveraging features such as invoicing, billing, payment etc. Clarity around financial situations enables school authorities to make better decisions and allocate resources effectively.
6. Enhanced parent participation
With a school management system, it is possible to improve parents’ participation as well. Such systems often come equipped with features such as parent portals. It, therefore, gets easy for parents to assess schedules, grades, and other important details easily. These features make parents feel involved, and they love to actively participate.
7. Improved scope of flexibility and customization
Having such a system allows a greater degree of customization, which is imperative to offering a premium educational experience to students. School authorities get to customize their experiences to meet specific needs. The degree of flexibility and scalability enable the school management to operate easily.
8. Enhanced student results
At the end of the day, the school administration wants their students to excel at academics and extracurricular activities. They want to grow up as better human beings. A school management system helps the school authorities to achieve this goal. School authorities can leverage all the advanced features of a school management system and help students with their overall performance. Tracking progress has got easier. Also, it is possible now to identify weak areas where there is scope for improvement. Also, offering support and guidance to students in the right direction adds to improved student outcomes.
9. Boosted security
Schools are a treasure trove of sensitive data. It is, therefore, important to have a system that allows school management to safeguard all the data from cybercriminals or even technical faults. Much-needed features like data encryption, authentication, backup, and data recovery systems help prevent any kind of unauthorized access to the school’s sensitive database. Parents, teachers, and students can stay safe and relaxed. Confidentiality and privacy add to the peace of mind.
10. Value for money
Investing in a school management system is a cost-effective solution that helps streamline your operations and enhance overall work efficiency. Such systems minimize the time you spend on everyday, repetitive tasks. It allows you to save time on labor costs as well as automate daily tasks, thereby saving your precious time. Automation further helps in reducing the chances of error, thereby increasing overall efficiency.
Build Positive Student-Teacher Relationships
When you invest in a school management system, it significantly contributes towards enhancing student-teacher relationships. Here’s how:
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By creating a collab learning environment
With a school management system in place, teaching students becomes a much easier task. Teachers no longer stay busy with repetitive activities and can, in fact, wholeheartedly participate in the learning journey of their students. The tools come with features that enable the teachers to instill a sense of togetherness among the classmates. Group activities and team participation add to holistic learning. Such experiences replace the dreariness of academic exams from everyday learning with fun moments and novel ideas that keep students engaged. Knowledge gaining becomes more convenient when all the students and teachers join hands to achieve a mutual goal with the help of an efficient school management system.
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By enhancing teacher-student communication
A school management system bridges the conventional gap between teachers and students and helps in improving teacher-student communication. Gone are the days when students hesitate to ask even the most basic questions and teachers fail to express their concern and care for their students because of professionalism. With an efficient school management system comes truckloads of features that are designed with the communication needs of teachers and students kept in mind. From 1:1 calls to group sessions, such tools offer a greater and improved scope of communication. Also, data safety and privacy features add a protective layer of assurance, which further helps both students and teachers to communicate clearly.
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By shifting the workload from teachers’ shoulders
Being a teacher is no easy feat. They are responsible for the upbringing of hundreds of students academically. However, daily monotonous tasks deprive teachers of the precious time that they can otherwise use to partake in important activities that help improve teacher-student relationships. Also, repetitive tasks make it impossible for teachers to focus on important and creative activities that could otherwise yield enhanced results in terms of student performance.
This is where steps in a school management system. Such setups come equipped with automation facilities, which enable teachers to cut down time on daily tasks such as attendance, schedules etc. By saving time for everyday activities, teachers feel much more relieved and get to concentrate on other important tasks.
Communication Skills for Teachers
Another key factor that is impossible to ignore is improved communication skills among teachers. For a very long time, the focus has always been on students. However, what gets easily overlooked is that teachers are the supporting pillars in any academic setup. They are the ones who are answerable to school management and parents. At the same time, these teachers also play a crucial role in shaping the academic and career trajectories of the students. So, it is completely non-negotiable that these teachers have flawless communication skills.
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Communication with colleagues and management
Teaching is not an independent, one-off project. Teachers are required to teach and collaborate every day. Some of the collaborative tasks that teachers perform include meetings, training sessions, preparing reports, planning lessons, regular updating and so on.
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Communication with parents
Teachers are required to communicate with parents effectively. This includes emails, phone calls, e-meetings, one-on-one communication etc. Teachers need to be adept with both verbal and written language. Teachers often discuss sensitive topics with parents, such as learning problems in students, weaknesses, and behavior issues. If they fail to communicate these important issues in the right way to the parents, this will have a direct impact on the students.
Also, poor communication skills will create distrust among parents regarding your teaching abilities.
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Communication with students
Teachers spend a huge chunk of their days with students. Being unable to interact with students directly hinders their teaching process. No matter how good they are with their knowledge, if they can’t communicate properly, students will end up learning nothing. Also, as a teacher, they are required to listen to the students, understand them, and then take suitable actions.
Another major concern is that every student is different. Teachers can’t use a one-size-fits-all formula with everyone. It is, therefore, important for the teachers to interact effectively with each student and bring out their best side. If a teacher is unable to communicate properly with students, it results in a strained student-teacher relationship, which negatively impacts the academic performance of the students. That’s why teachers cannot afford to have poor communication skills.
This is where an efficient, result-oriented school management system steps in! It significantly improves the communication skills of teachers. The built-in features are designed with the requirements of teachers in mind so that they can communicate effortlessly with all the important stakeholders. Be it the parents, students or colleagues, a school management system enables teachers to manage communication at all levels conveniently.
Also, such a system effectively reduces the workload on teachers. A school management system comes pre-equipped with features that help teachers learn and grow at their own pace. Automating non-important, mundane things allows teachers to focus on other important areas.
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