Response to: The NZ Teachers Council – by the teachers for the teachers?
Response to: The NZ Teachers Council – by the teachers for the teachers?
There are a number of facts in Max Christopherson’s blog that are clearly incorrect.
It is important to correct them.
Getting the Facts Straight!
1 The Council has 11 members of which 4 are Ministerial appointments.
2. There are 4 elected members:
• a secondary school teacher representative voted for by secondary school teachers
• a primary school teacher representative voted for by primary school teachers
• an early childhood teacher representative voted for by early childhood teachers
• a principal representative voted for by principals
Noting that there are over 89,000 registered teachers with practising certificates, ensuring that all are able to exercise their voting rights will not be cheap!
3. There are 3 representatives nominated respectively by:
• PPTA
• NZEI
• STA
4. Eight of the current Council members are qualified teachers.
5. Each Council member receives exactly the same remuneration and meeting expenses regardless of whether he or she is a Ministerial appointment, a nominated member or an elected member.
6. The employers of those Council members who are in full-time salaried positions are reimbursed to allow these members to be released on Council business.
7. Each Council member, including a teacher, is personally paid a preparation fee for each meeting he or she attends.
8. Council members provide an invaluable service to the profession and work hard and conscientiously to promote teachers and maintain high standards for the profession. Clearly they do this work out of a professional commitment to the teaching profession and not for any personal monetary gain.
Professional Status
9. In the 1990s, compulsory registration was dropped. Both teacher unions – NZEI and PPTA – lobbied strongly for its reinstatement as a protection for the professional status of teachers. Of all the professions, teaching is one of the most vulnerable to exploitation. There are numerous international examples of governments seeking to employ untrained and inappropriately qualified individuals to meet teaching shortages, simply look at examples from the United States.
10. For a brief period, there was an attempt to establish a voluntary professional body for teachers by teachers themselves known as the Teachers’ Council of Aotearoa. Without a statutory framework, this attempt could not be sustained and the organisation collapsed within 3 years.
11. Teachers, the unions and other educators supported the re-establishment of a professional body.
12. The Council represents over 89,000 teachers. It is clearly the largest profession in the country.
13. Teachers pay a $40 per year registration fee. This is the lowest registration fee for any professional body in the country (eg nurses pay $60 per annum). It is also significantly lower than any Australian state, British Columbia, Ontario, England, Wales, Scotland or Ireland to name a few.
Professional Leadership
14. Within 5 years, the Council has completed major pieces of work including:
• establishing a robust registration system
• developing a fair, transparent process for dealing with complaints about teachers’ conduct and competency
• writing standards for graduating teachers in consultation with teachers, unions, employers and teacher educators
• launching a review of the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions
• completing a series of research projects including a major review of the induction of beginning teachers
• preparing to launch a series of pilots to ensure the highest quality possible for the induction and mentoring of newly qualified teachers
15. For all of this work, the Council has needed to establish a sound infrastructure and effective governance.
For those who would argue that teachers do not need the Council, talk to those who tried to establish the Teachers’ Council of Aotearoa without the support of a statutory framework.
Teaching is an honourable profession that provides a significant public service and most teachers strive to maintain the highest standards possible to promote the learning and welfare of children and young people. Most teachers want to ensure that those who fail to uphold the status of the profession are not permitted to continue to diminish the work of their colleagues. And, on the other hand, teachers need to be protected from unfair allegations by a robust, transparent and fair process to deal with complaints.
Peter Lind
Director of NZTC
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