Recruitment strategies are ever evolving topic of discussion in today’s era, while the same has moved through various stages in new age and traditional industries across the world including India, it is still in the nascent stages of evolution in the Education industry/sector. Thus, I thought of drawing attention to this very crucial and important area of focus in the age when we are talking about use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning across in almost all core processes.
In order to understand, ‘Why’ we are a slow evolving sector in adopting new age ‘Recruitment’ practices, it is important to understand the evolution of ‘teaching as a profession’ considering we intend to understand the growth in ‘Education’ as a sector. I have distributed this concept into two broad categories :
Evolution of Teaching as a profession in India:
Teaching was considered as a humble profession, it started in ancient times with the emergence of Guru-Shishya Parampara which earmarks an era where teachers were considered as spiritual and intellectual guides, imparting knowledge in ashrams and gurukul. The teachers (gurus) were imparting knowledge through mainly oral recitation and guiding their Shishya (student). During this period the subjects taught were mainly Vedas, Mathematics, Astronomy, Philosophy and Arts. This was an era when education was not sought by all, nor available so easily. Education was for the classes or those who wanted to learn and who were accepted by the Guru’s as Shishya.
Later due to Islamic rule, the influence of madrasas and maktabs became more prominent. The subjects taught were theology, logic, philosophy, medicine and Persian literature. The focus was on religious learning during this phase. Considering the focus was on religious learning, the clerics became very important teachers.
In the Colonial period, the introduction to western education took a front seat, the British established formal schools, colleges and universities and introduced English as a medium of instruction. This is when the role of teachers shifted from religious teaching to formal structured classroom teaching. It was during this period the first teacher training institution was established and need for pedagogy and professional qualifications to teach started gaining impetus.
Post the Britishers left the country, the emphasis was ‘Education for all’ as the Constitution of India recognized it as a fundamental right. During this phase there was lack of funds and infrastructure, although new government programmes were introduced and NCERT (National Counsil of Education, Research and Training) was instituted. Teaching had started picking up the popularity of being a profession with a structure around it.
Growth and Popularity of Teaching as a profession
In the late 20th century, teaching was considered as a mainstream profession with significant advancements, challenges and transformations in response to societal, technological and policy changes.
It became mandatory to have minimum education qualifications for being eligible to teach. Degree courses like B. Ed (Bachelor of Education), D. El. Ed (Diploma in Elementary Education) and M. Ed (Master of Education).
Bodies like NCT (National Council for Teacher Education) were formed also formal TET (Teacher Eligibility Tests) were introduced at Central and State levels. This is when we started discussing the need for TET (Teacher Eligibility Test) for hiring qualified teachers.
New Age Teaching
With advent of Technology in Education, the focus on Teachers gaining new skill sets have become of paramount importance. We have started exploring beyond classroom teaching already, use of technology in education is seeing new vistas with AI tools now becoming popular.
In an era when knowledge is easily available with a click of a button or a voice command, thus driving our attention to hire/recruit teachers who will satisfy the learning requirements of our future generations.
Recruiting Practices
In the Education sector unlike any other sectors, the openness to hiring fresh talent is not well explored, we look for a ready-made teacher who can teach from today …! Also, attrition of teachers create gaps which require to be bridged immediately leaving no space for planned hiring in many schools, thereby leaving employers with limited choice of talent.
I think to address the widespread talent gap and creating educators of tomorrow, this sector will have to adopt hiring practices which are sustainable, value adding and futuristic.
Following are hiring practices which can lead to spotting right teaching talent:
- Competency based hiring:
Competency based hiring assessment to evaluate skills and behaviours; thereby not limiting to qualifications. There are many ways to do competency based hiring, viz. Conducting Behavioural Event Interviews, Doing Psychometric Assessment etc. These techniques can help in spotting a right talent.
- Culture fit:
Culture is an important element when we source talent from outside. WHY CULTURE FIT? To ensure that new employees will integrate well into the institution and contribute to its success. Interviewing is the best way to assess culture fit, one should incorporate questions around values, vision, ways of working, language and communication styles, habits, belief system, acceptable and preferred behaviours.
- Diversity and Inclusion practices:
In today’s VUCA world, its is essential to have diverse thinking in teams, hence choosing candidates from diverse backgrounds will help to bring in variety of perspectives and experiences. While we explore ways to assess the inclusivity index of candidates, there are some tips which can help when you interview candidates – Ask to understand unconscious bias which is a subconscious judgement based on preconceived notions or stereotypes. Use of diverse interview panel which can help reduce bias and provide different perspectives on candidates, make your open positions attractive and open for diverse candidates etc.
- Leverage Employee Referrals:
Many institutions esp. educational institutions leverage employee referrals to the maximum, by building a structure employee referral programme institutions can easily find candidates who align with the organizational culture and standards, it also enhances an element of trust for the referring employee, as his/her contribution to institutional building.
- Technology ~ Gamification and use of AI tools
Technology and teaching have now become synonymous especially post COVID 19, we learnt to use technology most creatively. New and advanced ways of teach is influencing the entire education world. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the educators are equipped with the latest technology knowhow. Use of AI tools in teaching, assessments and new ways of learning should be an assessment parameter while hiring the new educator. In case such talent if not available in the market, the organization need to educate such teachers in a short span. While a test on basic tech awareness and usage as well as use of gamification in teaching should be mandatory.
- Internships, Fellowships and Trial Periods:
While these practices are not new, largely educational institutions underplay the power of building a very attractive and structured programme. Young talent is highly trainable and adaptable, can bring new perspectives, these are fast learners, confident and eager to explore, experiment and perform.
Schools have a high potential to provide opportunities to these young people fresh from college, candidates who want to re-start after a career break, candidates who want to explore the education sector ~ movement from corporate to education and those who want to prioritise work life balance.
Unleashing the potential of the eager and enthusiastic lot of candidates through structured programmes is the need of the hour, is untapped and as Educational institutions have the most powerful element of ‘accommodating talent in any form’ through different engagement models, it can not only add value to the student community, it will also showcase the employer’s openness and vision to attract talent.
While we started adopting and evolving in late 20th century, we as a country have been fast to adopt and evolve faster than many. Strategic hiring, selection and deployment of teachers while investing in their development and ensuring their well-being are the key words for sustainable strategic human resource planning. Strategic Hiring can help establish futuristic and choicest institutions of tomorrow.
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