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

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Teaching and non-teaching personnel employed in a school plays 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 different form depending upon individuals' roles and students' specific needs.

I chose this research to determine how the teaching and non-teaching personnel relate with each other and what live experiences do teach and non-teaching personnel share about their working relationship. It is timely because a lot of issues concerning school personnel are at hand and sometimes it is tough to determine the course of action to take to resolve it. This study recommends courses of action to address the issue.

METHODS

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

RESULTS

Based on the interview and observation, the following findings were revealed: When the non-teaching personnel are not armed with enough 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 developed because of miscommunication and the need to clarify roles and responsibilities, ethical issues and other aspects of working relationship.

DISCUSSIONS

Employees are the biggest asset of an organization and managing people is really a tedious and challenging task. In a school setting, teaching and non-teaching personnel are both significant members of the school. They play a vital role in the organization and they have the same goal and 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 rapport among the teaching and non-teaching personnel and a good and healthy communication among them will ensure that conflict, misunderstanding and other related problems will be avoided.