Lucinda
You are absolutely right. Nothing motivates a student like a passionate instructor.
Are you willing to hire someone without a teaching background? If so, what do you look for?
Instructors must demonstrate a passion for education and student success. They must have academic credentials at least one degree above the program they are teaching. Strong communication skills, both written and verbal are required. Instructors must demonstrate a willingness to be a team player. Compassion and patients are also required.
The school is accredited by ACICS. Standards require instructors to have at least a bachelors degree in the field of teaching. In some cases a degree in another field is okay if a certain number of semester credit hours was passed in subject the instructor is teaching. Also in some cases verifiable job skills in the field of teaching can be subsituted.
We require the instructors have degrees in the field of teaching or an appropriate number of credit hours. On the job train is also considered
Hi Alessandra
Great comments. Faculty can have a key role in developing not only marketable skills, but also in developing basic skills such as punctuality, attendence and personal accountability.
Do you consider personality or professional experience more important in hiring an instructor?
Overall, we've had success in recruiting and hiring instructors with the knowledge and skill sets of the particular medical speciality. Our challeges start when working with these individuals on developing their teaching skills. My biggest challenge is helping these new instructors begin to think of themselves as instructors rather than medical assistants, pharmacy assistants, etc. This is a transition that takes hard work and thoughtful reflection. Given the reality that most instructors teach part-time and hold other part or full-time positions elsewhere it takes a good deal of creativity to give them the support and information necessary to build their teaching skills.
In addition to being able to teach the academic and vocational aspects of our courses, our instructors must also be able to relate to the population whom we serve. We look for instructors who are passionate about what they do; those with a missionary zeal; those who are compassionate; those who understand the invisible wounds carried around by many of our students.
Our instructors are able to motivate and nuture our students because that is what is needed above and beyond knowledge and skills and ablilities. They are almost surrogate parents . . . modeling effective forms of cultural and social behaviors for adults who might have been acculturated in a dysfunctional manner.
Thanks for your response Charles. What have you
found to be the most important aspect of hiring an instructor? Do you consider hiring people without experience?
The proces of finding, then hiring a new instructor is aided by a good review of your current staff. Career schools are held to a host of regulatory standards for their instructors, such as a degree, license, cerification and so forth, those must be met; and are certainly deal-breakers.
The KSAO's we have sought have been things like degrees, certifications, etc. Subject matter expertise from the classroom and the work world. Prior teaching experience. The work hours available, and their overall desire to help change people by infusing new skills into them.
Hi Maureen
Welcome! How difficult is it to hire people with the skill set you seek?
We look for instructors who have the content knowledge of whatever allied health profession we teach (pharmacy tech, veterinary tech, medical assistant, phlebotomist, dental assistant) and who also have a strong command of the skills of each field. We look for instructors who have enthusism for their medical specialty and who want to share their knowledge and skills with those who want to enter the professions. We also seek instructors who are team players and who are committed to building their own skills in teaching.
It appears that you have a good grasp of what you are looking for in an instructor. Knowing that can make the task a little easier.
The knowledge we seek from an instructor revolves around education and life experience. Knowledge is gained by doing. We seek out instructors that have demonstrated themselves previously or have the potential to build certain skills. All of our instructors have to have knowledge of the sciences, business world, and/or massage technique.
The skills we seek from an instructor include computer competency and licensing in their field.
Finally, the aptitudes we seek from an instructor are the ability to lead, counsel and manage students. Strong organizational skills and interpersonal skills are also required.
