Hon Trevor Mallard
Minister of Education
January 2002
TEACHERS' COUNCIL
Education Minister Trevor Mallard talks about the proposed
new Teachers' Council.
Nurses have the Nursing Council; doctors have the Medical Council;
veterinarians have the Veterinary Council. Yet for the 50,000 plus teaching
staff working in schools or licensed early childhood education services,
no extensive professional quality standards body has existed.
It's a deficiency that the Government has addressed through law replacing
the Teacher Registration Board with the New Zealand Teachers' Council.
After all, achieving high standards is one of the most important aspects
of an education system.
The quality of the teaching is most crucial element that determines the
quality of learning within an institution. The latest and greatest computers
and enough books and resources to fill several libraries does not compensate
for poor teaching.
The Government has a responsibility for supporting high standards in
schools. But to support high standards in teaching also requires 'buy
in' from the sector. The Teachers' Council will be largely driven by the
teaching profession. Teachers (including principals, who I consider part
of the teaching profession) will be asked to directly elect registered
members to it, and the two main unions have also nominated members.
The council will take a key role in leading the profession in both quality
and disciplinary matters - in much the same way as the nursing council
does in that profession. It will provide a vehicle for raising the public
profile of the profession and of supporting the profession in taking a
greater responsibility for its own quality standards.
This is a long overdue advance to what ultimately has the potential to
make a significant difference to the standard in the average New Zealand
classroom.
Quality in any profession starts well before the individual starts work
- it starts the kind of training that is provided. A major part of the
council's job will be to establish and maintain standards of the training
courses. A teacher will only qualify for registration status if they have
satisfactorily completed an approved course.
Once a teacher is registered, the council will take on much of the role
performed by the Teacher Registration Board but with enhancements. For
example, processes for practising certificate renewal will be strengthened
to better monitor teacher performance and behaviour and to include ongoing
requirements - like a new requirement to make sure that teachers are undergoing
regular professional development. Just think, nearly a third of teachers
began teaching more than 25 years ago when classrooms and teaching methods
were quite different. Yet while most teachers do undertake professional
development, it is not a requirement and the approach across the entire
sector is sporadic.
Another significant change proposed is mandatory reporting of teacher
misconduct or incompetence. Under previous legislation employers were
required to advise the Teacher Registration Board where a teacher was
dismissed or resigned within 12 months of being given written notice that
the school board was dissatisfied with, or intended to investigate any
aspect of the teacher's behaviour or performance. But there were instances
where the employer did not give written notice of its concerns to the
teacher, or entered into a confidential arrangement to avoid reporting,
and the teacher moved on to teach at another school. I intend for the
teachers' council legislation to clarify the reporting obligations of
employers in this regard. It should also be able to investigate complaints
more widely and give a greater range of sanctions like the ability to
suspend a teacher during an investigation or specify conditions of practice.
That approach works well within nursing but the TRB could only register
or deregister.
Coverage has been extended to the early childhood sector and the council
will also coordinate mandatory police vetting for all workers in schools
and early childhood centres.
More widely, the teachers' council will be required to promote best practice
in teaching throughout the sector and is expected to keep up with both
international and national developments in teaching.
Over the last 15 years, there's been a lot of changes in school administration.
I want to focus back on what's happening in the classroom and look at
ways to constantly improve the quality of teaching. The New Zealand Teachers'
Council is an important part of that process.
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