Abstract
M. Ed. (Education Management)
Schools for Specialisted Education cater for pupils who suffer from a wide range of disabilities. At these schools the staff component is diverse in order to cater for all the needs of the pupils.
Because of the diversity of staff members, which include teaching staff, therapists, nursing staff, hostel staff, administrative staff etcetera, special care must be taken to address the staff development needs of all staff members.
The purpose of this study therefore had two main objectives,
namely :
(1) To do a survey and establish exactly what is being done in practice regarding staff development at schools for Cerebral Palsied and Learning Disabled.
(2) To draw up guidelines to assist principals when planning their annual staff development and in-service training programme.
It was found that very few schools for Specialised Education plan specifically for the needs of a diverse staff, but rather include topics that will interest most staff members as a group.
Staff members also expressed the need to be included in the planning stages to ensure that their needs are addressed and that they are empowered to perform their tasks to the best of their ability. After a general overview of the essence of any staff development
programme, more specific guidelines are given to assist principals of schools for Specialised Education and schools for Cerebral Palsied and Learning Disabled in particular.