IV Effective School Planning Councils
Characteristics of members
Of course one of the important factors in the success of any organization or committee is the quality of its members. The following are some personal attributes that would contribute to effective participation as a member of the SPC (source: BCCPAC)
Collaborative |
Is committed to improving student achievement through goal setting and school planning processes |
Reliable |
Is interested in learning new skills and willing to take training. |
Respectful |
Effective listener |
Team player |
Effective speaker |
Courteous |
Can write timely and concise reports |
Believer in improving student achievement through meaningful parental involvement in schools and the school planning process |
Understands the need for planning |
Understands and believes in being inclusive and representative |
Is able to ask good questions. |
Is willing to represent the collective voice of parents even if it differs from personal opinion |
|
In addition to the above qualities, the Richmond Teachers’ Association has adopted a set of qualifications/duties for the teacher representative:
• should be familiar with, or willing to become familiar with the Collective Agreement provisions as well as the policies of the RTA and BCTF;
• shall be willing to seek advice from the school union leadership (triad) and school staff and report to the school staff on a regular basis;
• shall be willing to promote issues that the school teaching staff considers important;
• shall be willing to attend the RTA training day on the Role and Responsibilities of the Teacher Representative.
Some possible qualifications/duties of the PAC representative might include:
Represent the PAC at meetings of the SPC. |
As a member of the PAC executive, report regularly to the PAC executive. |
Regularly attend all SPC meetings. |
Request direction from the general PAC membership |
Be a strong advocate for meaningful parental involvement in the school and in the development of a school plan |
Attend general PAC meetings. |
Be a conduit for the collective parent voice between the PAC and the SPC. |
Provide a written report to the PAC membership at every PAC general meeting. |
Team building
Groups of people working together do not become a team overnight by simply being given a joint or common task. Effective teams evolve and become productive over time. Regardless of their size or composition, teams tend to go through certain stages of development. The length of each stage varies from team to team, and may be as short as several meetings or may last many months. The sequence of stages, however, is pretty much the same.
Tuckman (1965) identified four stages of growth and development of a team. Understanding this pattern can help team members appreciate the importance of what they bring to the process as well as the nature of the stages of development. While the specifics of each stage may vary from team to team, the overall nature of each stage is consistent. During the process, some of the actions and feelings of team members may not appear to be productive. This is particularly true during the dissatisfaction stage when a sense of frustration and incompetence frequently emerges. However, working through each state is a crucial part of the team’s evolution.
Forming
In the orientation stage there is testing and trust building. People are polite, impersonal, watchful, and guarded. Members generally seek some agreement on purpose, goals and ground rules for working together.
Storming
There is infighting and goal clarification. While conflict is to be expected, in a well-directed, open, positive team, asking questions, making trade-offs and constructively challenging one another can foster a creative energy. This stage should not be avoided. It teaches members how to deal with differences rather than simply going along with the lead of more dominant members.
Norming
The commitment builds and teams get organized. Skills are developed in dealing with difficulties and the work at hand. However, there is a danger of concentrating on preventing conflict to the exclusion of sharing controversial ideas. There is the potential for “group think.”
Performing
There is maturity and closeness as effectiveness increases. There is commitment to producing results: dealing with conflicts as they arise, challenging ideas without getting personal and taking collective pride in team success.
| 
