For Teachers Issue 14
Preparing graduates for teaching – what does the research say?
Seven common features of exemplary ITE programmes:
Teachers’ responses influence decisions about ITE programmes
From the Director
He Poroporoaki ki a Winnie Emery
Get behind World Teachers’ Day 2010
Invite your local community newspaper along. . .
Photo competition for best ‘Teachers in Action’ photograph
World Teachers’ Day Conference 29-30 October 2010
Inducting new teachers into the profession – who’s responsible?
What next? Who will mentor the mentors?
Linking Minds award broadens leadership horizons
Rolling out the Registered Teacher Criteria – the roadshow continues. . .
Implementing the criteria – next steps
Data-matching with the Ministry of Education
Whakamanahia Te Reo Mäori – He Tirohanga Rangahau
Trouble is my business
Preparing graduates for teaching – what does the research say?
“Teaching is a highly respected profession. The public have high expectations of the qualifications, skills, knowledge and attributes of the people entrusted to educate the next generation, and rightly so,” said Teachers Council Director Dr Peter Lind when discussing recent research in teacher education.
“The public’s high expectations of teachers gives our profession credibility, and New Zealand teachers are credible and make a difference to the lives of
äkonga / learners.
“From time to time the media puts the spotlight on the quality of graduates leaving New Zealand’s teacher education providers, and wants to know who are our children’s future educators? Are they up to this important role?” said Dr Lind.
“The answer is yes.
“Recently the Council has undertaken a literature synthesis on Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes as part of the review of our approval process and requirements for programmes.
“One of the most informative sources was that of Linda Darling-Hammond (2006)1 who identified seven common features of exemplary ITE programmes she studied in the United States.
“Many of our programmes in New Zealand have elements of these already in them. We recognise that there are important synergies that successfully promote these and we are currently reviewing their effectiveness here. We want all graduates ready to begin their teaching careers upon graduation as they join the profession as provisionally registered teachers.”
Seven common features of exemplary ITE programmes:
1. A common, clear vision of good teaching that permeates all coursework and clinical experiences, creating a coherent set of learning experiences.
2. Well-defined standards of professional practice and performance that are used to guide and evaluate coursework and clinical work.
3. A strong core curriculum taught in the context of practice and grounded in knowledge of child and adolescent development and learning, an understanding of social and cultural contexts, curriculum, assessment, and subject matter pedagogy.
4. Extended clinical experiences – at least 30 weeks of supervised practicum and student teaching opportunities in each program that are carefully chosen to support the ideas presented in simultaneous, closely interwoven coursework.
5. Extensive use of case methods, teacher research, performance assessment, and portfolio evaluation that apply learning to real problems of practice.
6. Explicit strategies to help students to confront their own deep-seated beliefs and assumptions about learning and students and to learn about the experiences of people different from themselves.
7. Strong relationships, common knowledge, and shared beliefs among school and university-based faculty jointly engaged in transforming teaching, schooling, and teacher education (p.306)2.
“Interestingly for the Council, much of this parallels the responses in late 2009 to the Council’s consultation with the wider ITE sector on what they considered important to include in a new set of processes and requirements for ITE programmes,” said Dr Lind.
Teachers’ responses influence decisions about ITE programmes
As a result of the responses from teachers, teacher educators, ITE providers and national education groups to the consultation in late 2009 on ITE programmes, the Council has developed a set of requirements which will be required of every approved programme of ITE in New Zealand across the university and non-university sectors.
These requirements include:
- University Entrance for entry to all programmes.
- Literacy, numeracy and information technology competencies for entry to programmes.
- English language competency for EAL (English as an additional language) candidates upon entry to programmes.
- Selection processes of candidates entering ITE involving a visual component and the involvement of the profession.
- Practicum ITE visitors being registered teachers.
- Maintaining a meaningful and genuine dialogue with associate teachers and schools / ECE services.
The Council intends to release the details of the requirements to the sector in early September.
In the responses to the consultation there was a strong message to the Council that the profession wanted a closer and more meaningful relationship with the ITE providers. This will be further enhanced with a national core group of teachers being members of the Council approval and review panels for ITE programmes.
1, 2 Darling-Hammond, L (2006). Powerful teacher education. Lessons from exemplary programs. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass
From the Director
He Poroporoaki ki a Winnie Emery
He pūnenehu mōiri ki runga o Rotoiti. Te tangi tīkapa o te Kaoriki mokemoke. Aue, kua ngaro he waka kōrewa.
E te whāea Winnie Emery, kua katohia atu koe e te ringa kaha o aitua.
Our last edition saw us welcome Winnie Emery (of Ngāti Pikiao, Uenukukopako, Te Roro o Te Rangi and Te Arawa whānui) to our Māori Medium Advisory Group as a nominee of NZEI. So it is with great sadness that we are now saying farewell to this stalwart of te reo and mātauranga Māori and her return to ancestral considerations and te kāinga tūturu. Our condolences go out to the loss of her voice amongst whānau, hapū and the other close and varied associations she worked within to achieve a vision of mana Māori motuhake. E te kuikui, e te manu tioriori, e te wahine maia, moe mai, hoki atu ki te awhiawhi o tō tātou tipuna a Hine nui i te Po. Haere, haere, haere atu rā.
Get behind World Teachers’ Day 2010
UNESCO’s World Teachers’ Day, celebrated in New Zealand on Friday 29 October, is a day when kiwis can thank teachers for the work they do in educating our youngest citizens to take an active part in our world. This year we’re encouraging teachers and students to celebrate by running an event, entering our Flickr ‘Teachers in Action’ photo competition and profiling the experiences of beginning teachers.
Celebrating the day
This year we’re encouraging all early childhood education services, kura and schools to recognise and celebrate the integral role of teachers in society. Why not set the wheels in motion and let your students do the rest. Potential event ideas include:
- organise a fun debate about the role of teachers in society
- turn the tables on teaching – let the students try their hand at “teaching their teachers”
- host a “teachers vs students” sports game
- collate messages, poems and drawings from students celebrating their teachers and turn them into a book, mural or banner.
Invite your local community newspaper along. . .
Consider inviting along your local community newspaper to take part in the day. Most local newspapers or magazines will appreciate the opportunity to showcase a day that impacts on the wider community.
To link in with the Council’s conference theme of mentoring provisionally registered teachers, we would love the opportunity to profile the experiences of your newly qualified teachers on our website and would encourage you to send teacher profiles to community newspapers.
The insights of newly qualified teachers provide a fascinating account into the daily ‘life of a teacher’ and their enthusiasm is often contagious.
Many newly qualified teachers recount the experience of seeing their classroom and meeting their pupils for the first time as life-changing.
This World Teachers’ Day let’s together profile the valuable role that teachers play in building the foundations for lifelong learning.
Photo competition for best ‘Teachers in Action’ photograph
This year the Council is excited to run a Flickr photo competition to capture the spirit of ‘Teachers in Action’.
Whether you capture your teacher demonstrating a cool chemistry experiment, or a teacher unleashing their inner Picasso in an artwork, we want to see your best ‘Teachers in Action’ photo entries.
There will be one prize per sector for. . .
The most dynamic and technical photo from:
- early childhood education
- primary / kura
- secondary / wharekura.
An overall winning photograph will be selected from the top three entries.
We don’t mind whether a fellow teacher, student or even the senior manager or Board Chair takes the photo, as long as it captures a teacher in ‘action mode’, doing what they do best!
More information on how to enter, the techy aspects, and prizes are available on our website:
http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/
World Teachers’ Day Conference 29-30 October 2010
Are you a professional leader or teacher in a mentor role? This year’s two-day conference theme will answer the question Mentoring the Next Generation – what does it take?
Our keynote speaker is Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Cawthorne Professor of Teacher Education for Urban Schools and Director of the Doctoral Program in Curriculum and Instruction at the Lynch School of Education, Boston College. Her address will focus on the importance of professional support and learning in the first few years of teaching.
You’ll also hear findings from the Council’s induction and mentoring pilot programmes in Mäori medium, early childhood, primary and secondary settings and will have the opportunity to take part in practical workshops emerging from the pilots and the Council’s draft guidelines for induction
and mentoring.
A Director’s message has been sent to professional leaders in schools and ECE services seeking registrations for the conference.
Visit http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/ for more information.
Inducting new teachers into the profession – who’s responsible?
It has long been accepted in New Zealand that teachers beginning their careers need support in the first two or three years to embed into practice the knowledge and skills acquired in their initial teacher education programme.
Governments and employers have recognised the need to support their practice based professional learning through monetary and staffing allowances. Agencies such as the Council have helped the profession plan appropriate induction programmes by providing a resource kit and other advice on the Council’s website. The unions have likewise provided practical support to newly qualified teachers through seminars and field officer support.
Research commissioned by the Council in 2006 and other reports have indicated that the quality of support to newly qualified teachers is patchy across schools and ECE services.
This is of concern for a profession that has prided itself on taking responsibility for the quality of practice of its own members. Teachers may object, for example, about the disruption or extra work of accepting student teachers into their centres and classrooms, but few would argue that this is not an appropriate responsibility for experienced teachers to undertake. Similarly, teachers who take on the role of supporting a new teacher usually find this a highly rewarding task professionally.
So why, when new teacher induction in New Zealand is well resourced in time and/or in money, are all provisionally registered teachers (PRTs) not receiving a consistently high quality introduction to the practice of teaching? The Council’s research programme found a range of reasons:
- Not all professional leaders understand how important their own role is in providing pedagogical leadership and building a culture of professional inquiry for all teachers - including for newly qualified teachers.
- Not all schools and ECE services have accessed resources and advice about ‘best practices’ to support newly qualified teachers.
- Structural reasons inhibit some schools and ECE services from being able to support an appropriate induction and mentoring programme e.g. because of size, isolation, too few registered teachers (particularly in ECE), complexity of roles (noted in secondary), etc.
- A lack of appreciation until recent times of the need for ‘educative mentoring’ in contrast to ‘emotional support’ that has been the dominant form of mentoring in most places.
In 2009, the Council commissioned a national programme of pilot projects to trial draft guidelines for effective induction, mentoring and mentor teacher development. The draft guidelines, based on research, were trialled in ECE, Mäori medium, primary and secondary settings.
ForTeachers has published reports from three of these pilots (Issues 11,12 and 13). At our World Teachers’ Day Conference on 29-30 October, all the pilots will provide workshops to highlight their key learnings and offer participants practical skill development.
What next? Who will mentor the mentors?
Indicative findings from the pilots show real benefits have been delivered in terms of:
- The quality of the induction and mentoring received by PRTs.
- The quality of professional development to the mentor teachers.
- Spin off for the entire staff, particularly in building a collective sense of responsibility for the professional learning of colleagues - both newly qualified and experienced.
We know that the ‘Hawthorne effect’ will nearly always show a positive result during an intervention, so the researchers have had to identify which aspects of their intervention really made the difference. The difficult part then starts with ‘what next’? How is the profession as a whole and the agencies that support it going to ‘scale up’ the necessary conditions and practices that will make a permanent, in-depth difference to professional learning of teachers and to their mentors?
Over the next few months we all need to think about these questions:
- Who will provide and who will resource the professional learning needed by mentor teachers to truly engage in ‘educative mentoring’ that makes a difference to professional learning of PRTs?
- Should mentor teachers be selected (not just appointed) as well as trained and on what basis?
- How will structural challenges such as size, too few potential mentors, geographical and subject isolation be addressed so that all PRTs will have access to a quality induction programme?
- How can we strengthen the consistency or ‘moderation’ of judgements made about PRT’s practice and what constitutes judicious and valid evidence of the quality of their practice?
By Cynthia Shaw, Policy and Strategic Development Manager
Linking Minds award broadens leadership horizons
“The Linking Minds Scholarship has inspired me through many mediums to excel within leadership within my sector.”
This was the reaction from recipient Aimee Warrender following her “inspiring experience” in the United Kingdom as part of Linking Minds - a prestigious international award for young teachers who identify themselves as emerging leaders.
During the July holidays, the 2010 award recipients, Zoe Bridewell from Henry Hill School, Tim Watson from Wellington Girls College, Alison Derbyshire from Botany Downs Secondary College and Aimee Warrender from Little Lights Kindy, became immersed in the experiences of their teaching colleagues in the Northern Hemisphere.
ForTeachers interviewed each of the recipients and found out some fascinating insights. For the full interviews visit our website: http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/
ForTeachers: How do you think your experience in the UK will influence future teaching leadership roles you take on in New Zealand?
Tim: The ‘Linking Minds Scholarship’ provided me with a greater understanding of educational leadership and the concerns that leaders have around the world. The major influence on me was the way in which leaders in Wales strive for a level of connectedness, both within their local community, as well as nationally. There seems to be a strong drive to ensure that schools work together rather than work in opposition. The current development of a Schools Effectiveness Framework that reinforces this ‘connectedness’ was also interesting. There seems to be a real emphasis on taking the good practice that currently exists and devolving this to all teachers; something which is made possible by the connections that exist between schools and within communities. Seeing a different education system in operation allowed me to reflect on where there is potential to develop the way in which we currently operate within New Zealand.
ForTeachers: What struck you as one of the major differences between teaching leadership in the UK and here?
Alison: There is more importance put on developing emerging leaders throughout the schooling system in Wales. For example, at one school, Ysgol John Bright, we saw a dynamic programme in place aimed at young teachers who had been identified as future educational leaders and these teachers participated in an individualised leadership programme that helped them extend their expertise and skills. Part of the programme included involvement in the international professional development programme iNET.
This programme was mutually beneficial to the school and the teachers involved. Furthermore in all schools in Wales, it is compulsory for all those teachers wishing to progress to Headship of a school, to complete a two year course preparing them for this role.
ForTeachers: Was there any innovative educational initiative you witnessed in the UK that you would like to see implemented in your own school, kura or early childhood education setting?
Zoe: I was very interested to see Ysgol Lon Las (a Primary school in Swansea) using a programme called the ‘Leonardo’ approach. It was a very child-centered method where children asked questions about a given topic at the beginning of each term, and were then able to choose ways of presenting the information that they found. The teacher then acted as a facilitator, teaching skills as they were required.
At the end of each unit of work the children assessed what they had done, and the areas where they thought they needed to improve were used as their targets, or goals for improvement, in the next unit. Apart from an hour of mathematics each day, the rest of the time in class was spent using ‘Leonardo’. All the teachers that we spoke to at the school said they were amazed at the learning that was taking place, simply because the children were able to choose aspects of the topics that interested them, which made it more meaningful to them. It is definitely one that I would like to try in my own classroom.
ForTeachers: What were some ideas or skills you learned from this experience that made the biggest impression on you?
Aimee: Firstly, the ‘Comenius Programme’ run by the British Council, which recognises leaders in education, from countries who are leading in education globally. They recognise isolation of countries and encourage the sharing of initiatives, education opportunities and professional development. It is a three year programme where teachers are selected to visit other countries and become inspired to share their countries educational system. Currently the countries involved are Italy, Sweden, Germany, Northern Ireland, Portugal and Wales. I believe that New Zealand has a unique cultural and education system and as a country are extremely isolated and would benefit immensely from this opportunity.
Secondly, the Welsh attitude and acceptance of their bilingual culture, which was evident in all schools and the community. With English medium and Welsh medium schools the element of Welsh as a language was evident and held in such high regard. The Welsh are leading the way in Bilingual education and New Zealand could learn so much from the education model they used to implement the Welsh language. See the full interviews here
Rolling out the Registered Teacher Criteria – the roadshow continues. . .
The Registered Teacher Criteria means we are all on the same page and will strive towards being better teachers, Rakelle Ru Bay, head teacher at Lumsden Kindergarten told ForTeachers after attending one of the recent workshops.
“Our team has fully embraced the new criteria and we feel the professional dimensions and twelve criteria are achievable. We are planning to incorporate the reflective questions into our appraisal systems as well,” said Rakelle.
“The Council is near the end of its national roadshow and from the feedback received along the way we’re confident the workshops will help professional leaders and others to successfully implement the new Registered Teacher Criteria with their teachers,” asserts Council Director Dr Peter Lind.
Lead workshop facilitator Juliet Martin said the workshops are connecting well with leaders’ current thinking around teaching and learning. Cynthia Shaw, Policy and Strategic Development Manager adds that the participants are excited by the potential of the Registered Teacher Criteria to act as a lever to guide reflection and growth in teaching capability.
Juliet and Cynthia shared with ForTeachers the top three themes from the workshop floor and facilitator responses.
1. Evidence – there have been many conversations about ‘evidence’ – how much, how wide and how many pieces. Also the ‘consistency’ of judgements within settings and across settings, both for provisionally registered teachers moving towards full registration and for experienced teachers renewing a practising certificate every three years.
Response – the quality and usefulness of the evidence is what matters rather than the amount of evidence or how it is ‘collected’ or stored. People should reflect on the question “What is going to be ‘telling’ evidence that the teacher is operating effectively in a certain criterion?”
2. One set of standards – there have been requests for one set of standards rather than standards for attestation (the Ministry’s professional standards presently part of teachers’ employment contracts) and for registration (the Registered Teacher Criteria).
Response – while the profession will have two sets of standards in the immediate future, workshop participants found that matrices showing how the registration standards map across to the professional standards were very helpful. These can be downloaded from:
http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/rtc/rtcworkshopresources.stm
3. Appraisal – an interesting discussion in most workshops involved appraisal and different philosophical approaches. For example, should appraisal just be focused on professional growth or can it also be used for ‘accountability’ purposes e.g. for attestation and for registration decisions?
Response – there was huge recognition that professional leaders, including middle leaders and mentor teachers, all need access to professional development in the skills needed to effectively appraise other teachers. When confident of their skills and the focus of their appraisal many professional leaders could see the possibility of combining the Registered Teacher Criteria as part of a formative and summative process.
Implementing the criteria – next steps
Professional leaders should:
- begin discussions with teachers so they understand what the criteria are and the implications
- work with management teams to incorporate the criteria into performance management systems
- engage with the criteria by working with one or two criteria they feel really confident about first. This way evidence will overlap and can be applied to other criteria.
“We’re encouraging a lot of professional discussion on the criteria to help develop a shared understanding of what they mean, what practice looks like in different settings and what will count as evidence,” said Cynthia.
All the workshop resources can be downloaded via our website:
http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/rtc/rtcworkshopresources.stm
If you have any questions about the Registered Teacher Criteria workshops email: cynthia.shaw@teacherscouncil.govt.nz
Data-matching with the Ministry of Education
Over the last year the Council and Ministry of Education have been working hard to promote awareness of the importance of teacher registration and to improve the quality of our data.
With over 96,000 registered teachers the Council operates a robust registration system that provides an assurance to the New Zealand public that an individual has the qualifications, training and character suitable for the teaching profession.
In 2010, the amendment to the Education Act (1989) authorised the first data-matching between the New Zealand Teachers Council Register and the Ministry of Education Service Payroll.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner monitors the process to make sure the privacy of individuals is protected and that information matching is managed properly by both organisations.
Through this process we have identified teaching staff who appear to be employed without a current practising certificate or limited authority to teach; and teaching staff records that require further checks to allow us to complete the matching process.
We are expecting that some of these anomalies will have a reasonable explanation. However, there will be those employed in teaching positions who have allowed their practising certificate or authority to lapse, resulting in them not having a current practising certificate or authority to teach. All these teachers will be followed up in August.
It is important to note that all Boards of Trustees are still responsible for ensuring all those they employ in a teaching position have a current practising certificate or authorisation to teach. This includes principals who are also required by legislation to have a current practising certificate.
by Jenny Thomas, Registration Manager
Whakamanahia Te Reo Māori – He Tirohanga Rangahau
A review of literature on language proficiency
Te reo Māori is an official language of Aotearoa New Zealand but lacks vital structural, resource and policy support from amongst general and educational decision-making communities to ensure an appropriately qualified supply of Māori medium kaiako.
This is one of the key findings from the draft report, He Tirohanga Rangahau, the second phase of a comprehensive research project by Te Pouherenga Kaiako o Aotearoa into the enhancement of proficiency in te reo Māori of graduates from Māori medium Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes.
The project, given the name Whakamanahia Te Reo Māori, began in 2007 with an environmental scan (He Tirohanga Hōtaka) of the ten ITE providers accredited to produce graduates to teach in Māori medium settings. The report was published and released in December 2008 and featured in Issue 10 of ForTeachers. The report also provided a background to the second stage of this research project, a review of national and international literature, hence its name He Tirohanga Rangahau.
The tender headed by Dr Mere Skerrett of the University of Canterbury was awarded the contract to carry out the literature review in August 2009. The research was guided by two questions:
- What are the instructional and contextual factors that are most likely to influence the level of te reo Māori proficiency gained by kaiako graduating from Initial Teacher Education programmes, and how can these factors best be addressed?
- What are the issues in defining and assessing the relevant te reo Māori proficiencies, and how can these issues best be addressed?
The research was guided through its milestone reports by Te Roopū Whakamana Te Reo, the steering group, in preparation for publication and release and more importantly promoting the changes that may be necessary to meet the goals of the research project.
The research will be made available via our website.
For any queries about the research email:
brian.ruawai-hamilton@teacherscouncil.govt.nz
The ultimate goal of this research is found in the Council whakatauki “Ū ki to ako, tū tāngata ai āpōpō – To excel in teaching so our learners will excel in the future”.
Trouble is my business
An observational documentary by Juliette Veber
Trouble Is My Business is an observational documentary about an assistant principal who battles to keep his students in school and out of trouble. The film follows the stories of three Pacific Island and Māori students from a high school in the low socio-economic area of South Auckland as they struggle with the complex issues preventing them from getting an education.
**** 4 stars
“a thought-provoking and often very moving report from education’s frontline...” “...a compelling watch”
Peter Calder, NZ Herald
“Every parent should see this film....I just loved this” “I’m going home this afternoon to watch it again!”
Paul Holmes, Newstalk ZB
Visit www.troubleismybusiness.com to find out more about this documentary