Working Relationship among Teaching and Non-Teaching Personnel: A Reality Check

Authors

  • Luzviminda Escuredo

Keywords:

organization, communication, organization

Abstract

Introduction

Teaching and non-teaching personnel employed in a school both play an important role in achieving the goals of the Department of Education. Several non-teaching personnel are employed in schools to meet the students' needs and complement teachers' professional roles and responsibilities. Working relationships between teachers and these personnel may take a different form depending upon individuals' roles and students' specific needs. Effective working relationships among teachers and non-teaching personnel are essential if students’ best interests and the goals of education are met. I chose this research to determine how the teaching and non-teaching personnel relate with each other and what lived experiences do teaching and non-teaching personnel shared about their working relationship. It is timely because a lot of issues concerning the school personnel are at hand and sometimes it is tough to determine the course of action to apply to resolve it. This study recommends courses of action to address the issue.

 

Methods

A qualitative method was used for this study since it is appropriate when investigating a shared experience among a group of individuals worthy of examination and exploration.

 

Results

Based on the interview and observation the following findings were revealed: When the son-teaching personnel are not armed with sufficient knowledge or information needed to satisfy the inquiry of the teaching personnel it causes conflict. Also, when non-teaching personnel are inconsiderate of the needs of the teaching personnel aligned with teaching-learning situations it causes conflict. Conflict among the teaching and non-teaching staff has been developed because of poor communication and the need to clarify roles and responsibilities, ethical issues and other aspects of working relationships.

 

Discussions

The employee is the biggest asset of an organization and managing people is a tedious and challenging task. In most organizations, maintaining a healthy working relationship among the employees is a big challenge to the leader. In a school setting, teaching and non-teaching personnel are both significant members of the school. They both play a vital role in the organization and they have the same goal to share a commitment to meet students' diverse needs to the fullest extent possible, given the purposes of the education system, the functions and structure of the school, and the resources available. Building a rapport among the teaching and non-teaching personnel and good and healthy communication among them will ensure that maintaining conflict, misunderstanding and other related problems will be avoided. Finally, although, it is difficult sometimes for organizations to actively engage every employee, it has been reported that actively ‘engaged’ workforce performs better because they feel motivated and equally activated. Employees’ active engagement increases their emotional bond to the organization and its goals.

Published

2019-12-18