Job Analysis, Essay Example

Introduction

This paper is a job analysis about a high school teacher who teaches psychology. The analysis was written down after an extensive interview on this particular teacher concerning her job (Holmes, 2011). Upon finding this particular individual for my interview, I went ahead and did a research of my own on some aspects of her job such as the knowledge required to be a psychology teacher, the tasks, tools and even the abilities one should have in order to be able to deliver as a psychology teacher in high school (McIntyre, 1995). I communicated with the interviewee and she gave me an appointment at her current school the next day. Prior to carrying out the interview, I clearly explained to this teacher that the interview was intended to gather information that I was going got use in writing down the job analysis of her own career. I also stated to her that the exercise was part of my course requirement.

When we sat down for the interview in her nicely arranged office, one thing that I had to make sure was that I was in light mood while explaining the purpose of the interview but at the same time did my best to presents myself as professional as I could. I explained to her that a job analysis was basically a scheme about her job profile and not her personal life.

Job title

The interviewee is a high school, psychology teacher. She is responsible for teaching the subject of psychology in high school (Holmes, 2011). She is required to cater for the interests of all the students in her school that are in line with her job description.

Job scope

The roles of this teacher extent from the simple trips to class in order to give her students notes to help them pass exams. She is expected to mentor these young ones into becoming important members of the society. Many of the high school students are going thought the adolescent stage of maturity. The psychology teacher is expected to guide them mentally on how to deal with some of the challenges that come with this crucial stage such as developments of secondary body characteristics and how it affects their self-esteem.

Duties and responsibilities

She is primarily required to ensure support for the morals of the school and the students. She is required to ensure that laws on conduct are followed by the students and that sanity is maintained in the school setup. A basic responsibility such as maintenance of attendance records and grades that needs to be kept properly is another role of this teacher. Her support and supervision for the students is always kept in a high standard. She has to make sure that lectures are delivered in such a way that students easily fathom the fundamental skills (Holmes, 2011). In this case, the lectures are planned and executed in a very effective manner. Another vital role of this psychology teacher is to supervise the learners in both practical and theory work in a manner that will enable them to comprehend well. Apart from carrying out her administrative tasks, she ensures that her students behave in a proper manner both in class and in the whole of the school environment.

Tasks

She instructs demonstrations such as that of carrying out the personality test by her students during the cultural and welfare week. She uses differentiated instructions and teaching to meet the varying needs of her students. She assigns and grades class work and as well as the home works. For example is she gives a test in class that consists of ten (10) questions, the students that scores between 6.5 and 10 receives an A grade while those that score between 5-6 get a B grade. Those who have get 3-5 get a C while those with 2-3 get a D. Individuals with less than a score of 2 are the ones that receive an E. She says that her grading is very fair and is meant to encourage better performance. The preparation, administration and grading of the tests is geared towards evaluating the progress of her students (Holmes, 2011).

Knowledge

The psychology teacher is expected to understand the human behavior and how it relates with performance. This includes things such as personal differences in interests, personality differences, ability, learning and motivation variances among students and many more. She should also be equipped with the knowledge on psychological research methods, assessment techniques and ways of dealing with affective and behavioral disorders (e.g. bipolar disorder). Accordingly, she has a Bachelor’s degree in psychobiology and a teaching experience of almost twenty (20) years.

Skills

She instructs her students on the various tasks that they are required to do. She understands a number of training methods that varies under different situations such as the introduction of a new concept or topic (McIntyre, 1995). As is expected of her, she ensures that she is very audible and fluent when communicating to students both in class and outside the classroom. She keenly listens to her students without any interruption for clear conveyance of information from the learners. Above all, the teacher an autonomous thinker who is open to new ideas from others while using logic to sieve through the alternatives. Time is an essential commodity to this teacher so she keeps watch of it carefully.

Abilities

The teacher is able to keenly listen and digest any information presented to her even by the learners. The can communicate her ideas in the most appropriate manner using spoken word. She is also able to apply her general knowledge to deal with her student’s problems and can also use specific example to form meaning of a whole idea about the conclusion.

Work context

Hers is both an indoor and outdoor job. Outdoor in the sense that she gets out of her home to go to her work while indoor in the sense that she spends most of her time either in the classroom or in her office carrying out her duties. The environments both in the classroom and the office are conduce because of the good air conditioning within the school. However, she notes that some of the interpersonal conflicts that can happen in the school setup include things such as teacher-student affair (which is illegal), sexual exploitation or violence amongst colleague teachers, fights for positions in the school administration among the teachers or use of inappropriate punishment by a teacher on a student.

Organizational culture

This psychology teacher describes the organizational culture of her school as being conducive to both the teachers and students in performing their duties and responsibilities. The number of teachers in her school are adequate for al l the subject meaning their there is no overload of work for the teachers (McIntyre, 1995). The teachers and the student, hold a cordial relationship that is founded on respect and cooperation for their excellence. The students and teachers are appreciated for their good work through incentives such as prices and trophies. The cord of conduct is strict and set goals clear with the aim of setting an example higher than that of the competing schools (this is reflected in the school motto). The avenues for communication are both in oral and written form (Holmes, 2011). Written communication is used especially for official purposes that involve the administration.

Conclusion

The teacher (whose name shall remain in discretion for purposes of confidentiality) was very kind to provide me with the above information since nothing was given in return for the favor. After writing down a rough analysis of her job, I presented it to her and left it with her for any comment or critique (McIntyre, 1995). She phoned me that very night and the only issue she raised is that I was not specific about her academic qualification, upon which I apologized and told her that I would include this vital information under the section of knowledge in her job analysis (Holmes, 2011). We met after two days for another session and I gave her the final copy which she went through and did not have any issue with. After the meeting, I told her how grateful I was for her time and patience, thus concluded our business.

References

Holmes, D. (2011). The smart guide to the perfect job interview. Norman, OK: Smart Guide Publications.

McIntire, S. A., & Bucklan, M. A. (1995). The job analysis kit. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.