In this article, Val Andrew looks at the impact and range of the benefits of ongoing professional development for SBPs both from an individual’s perspective and the employer’s perspective
As the new government has only been in power for a short time, we don’t yet know the impact on our revenue funding, capital funding, recruitment and retention, salaries – and not least the national policy on curriculum. All of these factors are bound to impact CPD throughout the sector in some way.
When school budgets are under serious pressure it’s often the CPD budget that is the first victim of any necessary compromises in the quest to balance the books. This in turn means it is essential that we can justify the impact of any training and professional development that is authorised.
For us as individual professionals, regular CPD helps to keep our skills, competencies and knowledge up to date so we can continue to be “fit for purpose” and perform our roles effectively and efficiently. We are better placed to understand the latest best practice in finance, administration and other operational aspects of the SBP role. This then leads to us being more operationally competent.
Competence theory of learning
As a school business leader, I can easily identify with the competence theory of learning developed by Noel Burch back in the 1970’s. Burch set out 4 clear stages of competence:
Unconscious incompetence – this is when you are oblivious to what you need to know
Conscious incompetence – you start to realise what you need to learn
Conscious competence – you start using some new skills but have to concentrate hard
Unconscious competence – you can do lots of new things without thinking and are operationally competent and effective
Regular CPD helps us navigate between these stages as our professional competencies grow and develop which inevitably means we are likely to “yo-yo” backwards and forwards through each of these stages as we turn our focus onto different and new things. As our skills grow, we are able to be more adaptable to change and more confident in implementing change initiatives especially when we’ve identified improvements to systems and processes are required. Another benefit for us as individuals is that it can feed and encourage the desire for career progression as our own personal confidence and motivation develops in tandem with our skills and competencies. Never underestimate the power of a bit of confidence!
Growing confidence
Along with growing confidence in our own abilities, we become more confident in being proactive and seizing opportunities to solve problems which can lead to real job satisfaction.
There are also a range of peripheral benefits too including the opportunity to network with other like-minded school business professionals and share best practices, find out what they are doing that might be a better use of time and resources and not least find people to sound out with new and creative ideas. Robust professional networks are a huge support for SBPs especially those new(ish) into the role who can find it isolating and quite lonely.
As we travel the path of professional development there is added benefit for our schools too. When we have access to relevant professional development, this can enhance the management and leadership within our schools as colleagues develop more confidence in us and our abilities to take on more responsibility. Whilst linking our own development directly to improving educational outcomes for the pupils can be difficult at times, it’s undeniable that more efficient and effective management of resources (what we excel at) means a better learning experience for them and ultimately this does lead to better educational results and those pupils achieving their full potential.
As we are empowered to implement change initiatives to streamline systems and processes and embrace technology as well as making more efficient use of the school resources, this can also go some way to reducing the burdensome workloads of many of our staff colleagues too. This in turn helps to embed the concepts of credibility and respect for us amongst our school colleagues.
A better focus on compliance and awareness of the latest rules and regulations can help to reduce risks across the whole school or trust. At a time when, for example, external risks such as fraud and cyber-attacks are on the increase – having a fully trained SBP developing and implementing strategies to mitigate these can only be a positive for any school.
Most schools encourage ongoing professional development for all staff as integral to holistic school improvement but there are some settings (unfortunately) where there is a need for us to demonstrate impact to justify the provision of further development opportunities. If you find yourself having to justify pursuing a CPD opportunity, then I hope the above will prove useful in stating your case!
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