Needs Analysis

Unit 3

Introduction
In your central role as Headteacher of your school you need to be clear in your mind about which factors will most likely result in the greatest success for the institution. One of the key factors will be the clarity of your under­standing of the various needs and requirements of the different sections or groups that make up the school. This clarity will depend on your under­standing of your position in the school community.

The aim of this unit is to assist you, as the Headteacher, in the difficult task of identifying the needs of the school. To enable you to do this, you first should be able to identify the needs of the various components which, together, make up the sum total of the school's needs.

Individual study time: 6 hours

Learning outcomes
By the end of this unit you should be able to:
¨ explain the meaning of term “Needs Analysis”
¨ identify the various sections or groups whose needs constitute the needs of the school overall
¨ identify the needs of each of these groups and relate them to the school's overall needs
¨ suggest strategies that you could utilise to identify the needs of these groups
¨ attempt to work out evaluation strategies that can be used to check whether the various needs have been adequately identified and satisfied.

Terminology
Consider the meaning of the title of this unit 'needs analysis' and briefly explain what you understand by it and the implications of carrying it out.

Comments
In considering the above activity you may have looked up in a dictionary where various meanings of the root words 'need' and 'analysis' and their derivatives are given. The remarks made in the introduction to this unit may also have helped.

Thus, you should have deduced that 'needs analysis' refers to determination of the information and resources you require to enable you to do your work more effectively

But to say this is easier than doing it for various reasons. Firstly, your own needs as an individual are forever changing as you grow more experienced and you take on greater responsibility. Secondly, the nature of your job, whether as teacher or Headteacher, continues to evolve, partly because of the results of the development of Guyana as a whole, but also because of new inventions and the changing relation­ship of the human race to the planet we live on. Thus, to identify and satisfy both our personal and professional needs is a complex business.

Identifying needs
In a learning society such as the one we are creating, the purpose of the school is to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to develop themselves, their communities and the nation. All other functions and needs within the school will centre on realising this purpose. Thus we will begin our discussion by considering the needs of the pupils.

The needs of the pupils

Activity 3.1
Using one of your classes (at any level), ask the students to list what they want from their school and what they feel it needs to improve. They could perhaps do it in pairs and report back to you.

Briefly analyze the results of their discussions.

Comments
If the above activity was clearly understood by the pupils, it should have generated a useful basis for identifying the pupils' needs.

Did your pupils identify any of the following?
¨ a relaxation of discipline by either the staff or prefects or both
¨ good exam results, which will enable them to go for further training or get a job
¨ more funds for extra curricular activities
¨ the removal of some teachers and/or the demotion of some prefects
¨ more learning materials and equipment
¨ longer or shorter school holidays?

It may be that the pupils' answers may be incomplete, or perhaps focus too much on their immediate needs, rather than on larger, longer‑term needs. Perhaps, then, you could add to the items they have identified. Among possible additions will be an enriched learning experience and improved performance in Mathematics and English.

The needs of the school authority
In Guyana, the majority of schools are owned and run by the state. There are also a considerable number of privately funded schools, most of which are recognised by the Ministry of Education and some which are not. Guyana is well on the way to achieving the Millennium Goals at each level of education. However, the system still has considerable needs.

Each school was set up with a purpose when it was founded. As a school Headteacher, you must understand and identify with the needs of the authority which established and owns your school. In most cases this will be the Government of Guyana, possibly a religious institution or some other educational body.

Activity 3.2
The needs of the authority which owns your school may be very specific to it. Identify up to three of these needs. If your school is one of the majority state-owned schools, consider the specific needs of Guyana as a nation which will be reflected in the education provided.

Comments
Where a school is privately owned, the majority will have the intention of providing excellent educational opportunities for children. Owners will wish their schools to produce well‑qualified and responsible graduates who achieve, according to their capabilities, in their chosen field and in society at large, and thus bringing credit and benefits to the school. Some school may have more specific needs. Religious bodies are clearly concerned with the moral and spiritual qualities of the pupils and how these feed back to the community as a whole.

National needs
The purpose of the school also hinges on the satisfaction of national needs. Therefore, you will need to base your school's mission and objectives on a sound understanding of national policy statements made by central govern­ment which affect education at school level. Apart from such documents as Education Acts, there are such statements of intent as:
· levels of basic literacy and numeracy
· inclusive education for children with Special Educational Needs
· education for self‑reliance
· education for the development of the nation
· education to address disadvantaged groups
· commitment to policies for providing a specific philosophy of educational provision to meet national needs

It is absolutely necessary that you fully understand, after debate where necessary, and implement national policies in education as spelt out by the Ministry of Education and the Government of Guyana. Thus you will need to ensure that your own school mission statement is in line with central government policy statements. No Headteacher should consider operating against the grain of a government's policies.

Activity 3.3
Identify and list the main needs in education as spelt out in Guyana’s education policies.

Comments
The earlier discussion will have given you some ideas on the types of needs you may identify in Guyana' policy statements. As school Headteacher you will need to discuss your list with your deputy and senior teachers to verify your understanding of the key needs.

The needs of the community and parents
The school serves the local community and this, for the most part, is represented by the parents. These parents will have aspirations for their children and the school must make every effort to meet them. Where these aspirations cannot be articulated by the parental body, perhaps through lack of education on their part, the school must assist them in identifying what it is they want from a quality education.

Activity 3.4
Next time you organize or attend a meeting of the Parent ‑Teacher Association, or have a meeting with leading community members, ask them to identify for you some of the things which they seek or need from the school of which you are the Headteacher.

Comments
There are likely to be differences in the types of response you get from both parents and communities according to their own levels of education. Where these are relatively low where, maybe, a significant proportion of the parents are illiterate, the parents may be surprised to be asked such a ques­tion. They may feel this is something the school Headteacher should know; indeed it would be reason why he or she was employed. Their lack of experience in articulating their needs should not be used by you as an excuse for not pursuing this question further.

More literate parents and communities are likely to be more demanding, as, of course, is their right. By involving parents and community members more, the school staff and pupils will be made much more aware of the fact that they are accountable for the content and the processes of the curriculum, and for the standards of achievement reached by the pupils.

Staff needs
Staff are employed to meet the needs of the school community in which they work. However, they have their own needs too, whether they be professional or personal. The Headteacher must take account of these and ensure that, where possible, they are met so that skills may be used to improve the quality of education and lack of skill will not hinder the progress of the children.

Activity 3.5
Consider a relatively new and inexperienced member of staff. What would you identify as his /her main needs? It might be helpful to discuss this with such a member of staff.

Comments
Clearly, as school Headteacher, you must fully appreciate that you can only accomplish the educational goals and mission of your school by working with and through others, especially your staff. Thus, you must understand your staff's needs, both as individuals and as a group. For practical reasons much of the time their needs will be looked at from your point of view, rather than their own. However, from time to time it is necessary for you to ask them what they see as their needs. Some of their needs may include:
· a clear job description in writing
· provision for professional development and growth for all staff.
· adequate supervision of their teaching
· sound deployment of both teaching and non‑teaching staff
· a clear statement of the school's mission and objectives, and agreed targets
· adequate support materials and infrastructure
· a positive, supportive school climate.

The needs of the Headteacher and the school
You no doubt noted that there is a lot of common ground between the Headteacher's needs and those of the school. However, it must be made clear that the Headteacher has needs of his or her own which are over and above those that are purely the needs of the school.

Activity 3.6

1) Look at the requirements of a Headteacher below. Assess your own needs against this person specification

¨ adequate academic and professional qualifications
¨ a full knowledge of the methods and techniques of educational practice
¨ an ability to provide professional leadership to all sections of the school community
¨ an understanding of the interdependence of the various sections of the school community
¨ sound knowledge of school finance, including accounting procedures
¨ an ability to understand each part of the school curriculum and how each part relates to the learning programme as a whole
¨ an ability to plan ahead and to bring such plans to full fruition
¨ an ability to communicate with, motivate and harmonise the various sections of the school community to work in the interests of the school
¨ a capacity for sound public relations with those sections of the public with an interest in the school
¨ a capacity to work effectively and efficiently with, and through, other people, singly and in groups
¨ a full understanding of both the national goals in education as well as the mission of the school.


2) Now consider the needs of your school overall? Look at the list below and identify some of the needs that your school may have.
¨ adequate infrastructure and equipment
¨ adequate funding to meet capital and running costs
¨ a caring, helpful and involved community and parent body
¨ central government's support, funding and assistance in line with what other similar schools receive
¨ a committed Headteacher to manage the school effectively
¨ a suitably qualified, experienced and devoted staff, capable of delivering the curriculum
¨ a pupil population that is committed to making full use of the educa­tional facilities provided, and obtaining an education that enables them to realise their fullest potential
¨ a sound, acceptable purpose or mission to guide the school towards worthwhile objectives and targets.

Comments
As the school Headteacher, you need to identify and satisfy both your own needs and those of the school. Staff, Pupils, the School, the Community, Headteacher, Parents

As the Headteacher you will have to identify the school's needs, your own needs, as
well as the needs of all the other sections and groups involved in the school.

How this should be done will become clearer as you proceed with this unit.

Strategies for identifying needs
What do you understand by the meaning of the word ‘strategies’?

Comments
The meaning of 'strategy' hinges on plans or approaches towards accom­plishing desired goals. There is the implication here that the school mission and objectives are not easy to accomplish because many alternative paths are available, each of which requires careful consideration before a choice is made.

The discussion on needs analysis so far has concentrated on identifying what the needs are likely to be rather than on the strategies required to be able to find out what these needs are.

Strategies for the pupils
As Headteacher you should involve yourself in all teaching / learning programmes in and out of the classroom to enable you to gain insights into the needs of your pupils on a first‑hand basis. The following are strategies that you might use to make contact with your pupils.

¨ Use your contact periods with various classes to learn about pupils' needs.
¨ Use the prefect and monitor systems to channel information about pupils' needs to both yourself as the Headteacher and to your staff.
¨ Invite your staff individually and in groups to discuss and report on pupils' needs to you regularly.
¨ Utilise a suggestions /needs box to collect information, confidentially, from the pupils.
¨ Undertake audits and physical checks on all school supplies: this may indicate areas of deficiency.
¨ You and your staff ‑ particularly your senior staff ‑ must regularly audit and check the curriculum for relevance and balance, and for the effectiveness of delivery.

Strategies for the school authority
What strategies might you use to identify the needs of your school authority (private schools) or the Ministry of Education (public schools)?

Appropriate strategies might include:

¨ Holding regular meetings and consultations with the school authority to ensure that you fully identify with their needs for the school involving yourself in formal and informal get‑togethers with representa­tives of the authority
¨ Requesting information directly from the authority
¨ Involving the more articulate of the authority's representatives to directly identify their needs to the staff and pupils.
¨ Reading Ministry of Education documentation, strategy documents and policy positions.
¨ Discussions with the Regional Education Officer

Strategies for the Nation
What strategies might you use to identify the national needs in education?

You may have come up with the following strategies:
¨ the thorough study and understanding of the Education Acts, policy statements, and central government's position papers on education ‑ it is likely that these will also be described and debated fully in the press and the broadcasting media
¨ wherever and whenever possible, direct consultation with national policy makers and senior staff in the Ministry of Education and Regional Departments of Education.

Having identified the needs at national level you will need to blend these into the mission statement, objectives and targets of your school.

Strategies for the community and parents

Activity 3.7
We have already suggested in Activity 3.5 that you might be able to identify the needs of the community and of parents by asking them directly. What other strategies might be used?

Comments
Appropriate strategies might include:

¨ You could seek to develop and maintain sound communication and good public relations with both the community and more especially the parents. This will assist you in identifying their needs and expectations for the school.
¨ You could involve parents more directly in relevant school programmes, for example, special school functions, sporting competitions, etc. Such involvement should enable a less formal relationship to develop.
¨ Parent ‑Teacher meetings involving representatives of the community should be used to identify needs.
¨ Pay close attention to school‑related information and ideas in the local and national press and other media, for example, letters to the editor and editorials, as well as anonymous letters or telephone calls received in the school.

Strategies for the Headteacher and the school

Look at some of the strategies below that might be used to enable you as the Headteacher to identify your own needs and those of your school.

Which of the following do you think might be most useful for you?

¨ Study management, organizational, behavioural and educational theories.
¨ Attend staff development courses, seminars and workshops for Headteachers in particular and managers in general.
¨ Through informal discussion, draw from the professional experience and advice of your fellow Headteachers.
¨ Join and participate fully in professional associations, unions or organizations for Headteachers (and managers).
¨ Visit an industrial or commercial organization to learn about how they set about identifying needs.
¨ Analyse the responses given by individual teachers during their annual appraisal or evaluation interviews.
¨ Utilise inputs from your staff obtained during staff meetings, and informal discussions with individuals or groups.
¨ Note the needs identified by parents during Parent Teacher Association Meetings, as well as those obtained in informal discussions with individuals or groups of parents.
¨ Draw from, and directly request, inputs from your deputy, senior teachers, Heads of departments, and other promoted staff.
¨ Your pupils can contribute through channeling information through the prefects and directly during contact lessons with form teachers and the Headteacher.
¨ Study current educational and professional journals and magazines to gather ideas about your needs.
¨ Obtain documents on national policy and statements by the school authority on its mission and current targets.

Strategies for the staff

Activity 3.8
What strategies might you use to identify the needs of your staff?

Comments
Of particular importance in this regard is the crucial role of the staff in the delivery of the curriculum. For them to perform this function effectively they, in turn, need your professional guidance. You can only give mean­ingful support in this regard if you first establish strategies to identify, as far as possible, the needs of each and every one of your teachers. In particular both you and your staff will wish to identify the performance gaps of each of them.

The strategies you may have identified include:

¨ You appraise each teacher, through a formal cycle of contact once a year, to establish their strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. Guyana has an appraisal (or evaluation) system which is applied to all teachers and senior leaders. This is the “Annual Appraisal Report on Teachers”. A fuller discussion about appraisal procedures is covered in Module 3, Personnel Management.
¨ You supervise all your staff every day, as well as meeting with them on both formal and informal occasions.
¨ You study the subject evaluation reports compiled by inspectors.
¨ You require your staff to complete carefully designed questionnaires that identify staff, pupil and school needs.
¨ You check schemes of work, lesson plans and other school records at regular intervals. The pupils' exercise books should be regularly monitored in every subject and at every level.
Once you have established the needs of individual teachers and groups, or categories of teachers or departments, then your duty becomes one of finding ways of closing the performance gaps.

These might include:

¨ purposeful programmes of school‑based and school‑managed staff development
¨ staff meetings which are centered on professional topics
¨ closer positive supervision of those members of staff whose performance gaps require it
¨ finding ways of ensuring teachers’ welfare
¨ looking at ways of managing stress
¨ more direct assistance by you, the Headteacher, to individual teachers and groups who require any assistance: you should also utilize those of your staff whose good performance is such that they may give assistance to their colleagues, since peer support amongst teachers is always to be encouraged.

Summary
The purpose of this unit has been to help you recognise the importance of finding out from others what they want from your school. Different people need different things, and the nature and balance of these will vary with time. Knowing how to find out what people want is one key to enable you, as the school Headteacher, to provide effective leadership.

However, it is important, as we will remind you from time to time, to remember you what is the prime function of the school i.e. the provision of quality learning and teaching in an environment that is focused on maintaining high standards. Any need which does not directly or indirectly have an impact on these principle aims should be questioned.

The sum of the needs analysis of all of the various groups and individuals in the school, including yourself, will be the Needs Profile of the school. It is up to you, as Headteacher, to make sense of this and provide appropriate strategies to meet those needs.