Beyond any doubt, performance of every institution is grounded on following the postulates presented by the legal norms and regulations. Education is not an exception to the rule. Moreover, supervision of an educational facility is doomed to fail unless a person positioned in charge is well aware of the specific legislation basis appropriate for functioning of one’s establishment in multiple domains. The paper discusses the legal and district requirements of supervision in their interconnectedness as well as provides insights on how these constituents of institutional operations are crucial for performing the supervisor’s role.
With respect to “Minnesota Statutes” (2014), the document offers a thorough overview of different-level hierarchy of institutions in the region and related procedures that ensure their performance, ranging from the definition of each job, activity and schooling process in general to the rights and duties of every individual involved in these operations. It is even possible to trace how the educational system functions as a whole when analyzing the content per sections in sequence. The chapter gradually shows redistribution of responsibilities and working issues between a variety of stakeholders from the board members, teachers per specialties and qualification level to terms and conditions of employment to list a few. Also, the legal aspect of trainings as required opportunities for teachers’ growing professionalism and expertise is highlighted. At the same time, the document concerns not only teachers themselves, but also individuals who are about to become such professionals. In particular, it reveals the details on how specific training within different spheres of knowledge can be distributed and provided as well as regards the issue about student-as-teacher employment. A student can become a practitioner if he/she has completed not less than two years of an approved teacher education program and is assigned a competent and qualified supervisor that would mentor one’s performance in an appropriate manner (“Minnesota Statutes,” 2014, 122A.69). Moreover, student-teachers are found to be ordinary school staff members, enjoying full legal rights and responsibilities.
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Similarly, “Collective Bargaining Agreement” (2014) considers the issues of schools supervision in a more narrowed perspective, detailing the multidimensional schooling procedure and inter-institutional relations with a focus localized on the Robinsdale area schools district. It is necessary to note that this document does not duplicate the content of the previously discussed regulation, though the latter is used as one of its core background sources. The Statutes offer a broader scope of understanding supervision and their regulation is a basic framework for such regulations as the Agreement. Conversely, the Agreement demonstrates how the working environment of schools in the district is arranged and supervised, with accents put on the tiniest elements and implications of this process. For instance, even the length of school day and student contact time is succinctly noted including minutes as a standard (“Collective Bargaining Agreement,” 2014, 6-7). This normative varies in case a teacher holds a part-time position. Nonetheless, the document reviews a few cases of possible clarifications in terms of part-time teacher’s work, showing a predictive nature of the legislation aimed at both the well-thought out regulation in the field and informed awareness of the staff of their rights and duties. Overall, the Agreement expands on a great number of factors regarding teacher’s performance that have been briefly presented in the Statutes.
These are only several examples of how the legal background determines the schooling procedure in its entirety. While all individuals engaged in the educational process are to know these requirements for them to be able to secure themselves, a supervisor has to be totally aware of them and to adhere to them accordingly. Indeed, these regulations define the central structure of intra-institutional relations as well as the ways to maintain resilience within a team and working environment at large, hence mitigating possible inconsistencies initially. It is generally known that ignorance of the laws does not exempt from liability. On the contrary, a supervisor must know these regulations perfectly as he/she is responsible for the operations of the entire facility, its staff members, and the positioning of these two domains in the community in this regard. Maybe it is an exaggeration, but the role of the supervisor in terms of aligning the school’s operations in line with legal and district requirements is one’s great contribution into maintenance of a peaceful working atmosphere in the institution. To be more precise, in case this circumstance is ensured, employees will not be concerned with possible allegations or any other unfavorable consequences of their daily routine. Thus, performance will be smooth and flawless, at least within the legal dimension.
Simultaneously, these aspects of supervisor’s work are an additional must-to-follow, which constitutes excess responsibility of this occupation. First and foremost, one has to know much more than just psychology of human relations, academic disciplines, leadership styles and their appropriateness in particular situations, and effective principles of team work. The legal background is one more key to successful and respectful supervision of a facility where all staff members, students, parents and community as a whole are satisfied and perform their functions productively. It is even weird to realize that the majority of issues that occur between the aforementioned stakeholders happen due to lack of knowledge in the field. It follows that the supervisor is to fill in this gap. One has to refine organizational structure in such a way that it should be linked to legal perfection in order to make sure supervision is for common good. Consequently, in-depth knowledge is not the way to ease one’s duties, but rather a means to expand the scope of responsibilities one has.
References
Collective Bargaining Agreement between Independent School District 281 Robbinsdale Area Schools Hennepin County, Minnesota and Robbinsdale Federation of Teachers, Local 872 (American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO). (2014).
Minnesota Statutes. (2014). Chapter 122A. Teachers and other educators.