CONSULTATION DOCUMENT

Ngā pepa whai rūnanga
Ngā pepa whakahoki kōrero

DRAFT REGISTERED TEACHER CRITERIA

AUGUST 2008

FOREWORD

In October 2006, the New Zealand Teachers Council / Te Pouherenga Kaiako o Aotearoa began working with a reference group and writing group to review the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions (STD). A draft set of criteria, the Registered Teacher Criteria (RTC), has been prepared to replace the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions in 2010. The draft RTC describe criteria for quality teaching in Aotearoa New Zealand. They have been developed to update and bring the STD in line with current thinking and research about quality teaching practice.

Before the RTC are implemented, the Council is consulting with teachers/kaiako to ensure the criteria reflect quality teaching across all settings. This pack is one way we are consulting with the education sector on the draft RTC.

This pack contains:

1. Background information about the draft RTC and their purpose
2. The draft RTC
3. A set of discussion questions to engage with the teachers/kaiako in your organisation and
4. A feedback form.

The Council invites you and the teachers in your organisation to read and discuss these documents and provide feedback on the criteria and the extent to which they:

The feedback form has been designed to make it easy for you to comment on the criteria and related issues.

To ensure your feedback is included in the ongoing development of these criteria, please return the feedback form in the envelope provided by Friday 10 October 2008.

If you prefer to respond on-line please refer to the following link on our website: http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/policy/consultation.stm

If you have any queries please contact Erin Pilcher, Research Analyst on 04 470 9051 or erin.pilcher@teacherscouncil.govt.nz.

We appreciate and value your views in this important development for the profession.

Contents

Background information about the consultation

Draft Registered Teacher Criteria

Discussion Questions

Mā pango, mā whero ka oti te mahi
By black, by red, the work will be done

Ko koe ki tēnā, ko ahau ki tēnei kīwai o te kete
You take that handle of the kete and I'll take this one.

Purpose of this Consultation Pack

• to inform teachers about the criteria
• to encourage professional discussions in schools, kura and early childhood centres and
• to gather teachers' views of the criteria and evidence guide.
   

Informing teachers about the draft RTC

This pack is one way the Council is communicating with teachers and professional leaders about the draft RTC. It contains:

Encourage professional discussions

The Council views this consultation period as an opportunity for teachers and others in the sector to discuss exactly what it means to be a "quality teacher". We have outlined a series of discussion questions you may like to use when reflecting on the draft RTC. These questions should help teachers think about and discuss the draft RTC and then to fill out the feedback form.

Gather teachers' views on the draft RTC

As mentioned, we are keen to gather teachers' views on the draft RTC to ensure that the criteria describe quality teaching in Aoteaora New Zealand. We also want to find out what improvements we can make to the draft RTC before the criteria are finalised.

A feedback form has been included at the back of this pack to gather these views.

Background Information about the draft Registered Teacher Criteria and Consultation

Composition of the draft Registered Teacher Criteria

Purpose of the draft Registered Teacher Criteria

The draft RTC have been developed with the profession for the following purposes:

• as a description of the required professional knowledge, professional practices, relationships and professional values for teaching in Aotearoa New Zealand in early childhood and school settings
• to promote the status of the teaching profession through raising awareness of the complex nature of teachers' work
• as the criteria to guide the professional learning and the assessment of teachers as they work towards gaining full registration to teach in New Zealand schools and early childhood settings
• as the criteria against which teachers are endorsed as fully competent to maintain a practising certificate and to retain fully registered teacher status
• as a framework to guide career long professional learning and development of teachers
• to strengthen public confidence in the profession.

The Consultation Process

In addition to this consultation pack, the consultation process includes:

• an online survey sent to a sample of teachers
• focus groups at a small number of schools, kura and early childhood centres
• a postal survey to key stakeholder organisations.

The period of consultation is from July to October 2008. All feedback will be used to revise the criteria. Results of the consultation will be posted on the Council website in November 2008.

The RTC will be trialled in pilot programmes in 2009. A final version will be published and gazetted to apply from the beginning of 2010.

Draft Registered Teacher Criteria

Introduction

The draft RTC recognise that teaching is a highly complex activity, drawing on repertoires of knowledge, practices, professional attributes and values to facilitate academic, social and cultural learning for diverse education settings. The criteria and indicators should be viewed as interdependent and overlapping.

The criteria and indicators have been drawn from New Zealand and international literature and take into account the purposes for the standards.

Overarching statements

Teachers play a critical role in enabling the educational achievement of all ākonga/learners.

The Treaty of Waitangi extends equal status and rights to Māori and Pākehā. This places a particular responsibility on all teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand to promote equitable learning outcomes.

In an increasingly multicultural Aotearoa New Zealand, teachers need to be aware of and respect the languages, heritages and cultures of all ākonga/learners.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, the Code of Ethics / Ngā Tikanga Matatika commits registered teachers to the highest standards of professional service in promoting the learning of those they teach.

Criteria and Key Indicators

Professional Relationships and Professional Values

Fully registered teachers:

Criterion 1:
Establish and maintain effective professional relationships focused on the learning and well-being of ākonga/learners

Key indicator:
i. engage in respectful, positive and collaborative professional relationships in culturally and linguistically appropriate ways with:

• ākonga/learners
• teaching colleagues, support staff and other professionals
• whānau/family and other carers of ākonga/learners
• agencies, groups and individuals in the community.

Criterion 2:
Demonstrate commitment to promote the well-being of all ākonga/learners

Key indicators:
i. take all reasonable steps to provide and maintain a safe physical, social and emotional teaching and learning environment
ii. comply with relevant regulatory and statutory requirements.

Criterion 3:
Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of personal professional practice with the purpose of enhancing learning outcomes for ākonga/learners

Key indicators:
i. identify professional learning goals in consultation with colleagues
ii. participate responsively in professional learning opportunities within the learning community
iii. initiate learning opportunities to advance personal professional knowledge and skills.

Criterion 4:
Demonstrate commitment to bicultural partnership in the Aotearoa New Zealand context

Key indicator:
i. demonstrate respect for the heritages, languages and cultures of both partners to the Treaty of Waitangi.

Criterion 5:
Show leadership that contributes to effective teaching and learning

Key indicators:
i. actively contribute to the professional learning community
ii. undertake areas of responsibility effectively.

Professional Knowledge in Practice

Fully registered teachers make use of their professional knowledge and understanding to build a stimulating, challenging and supportive learning environment that promotes learning and success for all ākonga/learners

Fully registered teachers:

Criterion 6:
Conceptualise, plan and implement an appropriate learning programme

Key indicators:
i. articulate clearly the aims of their teaching, give sound professional reasons for adopting these aims, and implement them in their practice
ii. demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of relevant content, disciplines and curriculum documents through their planning and teaching.

Criterion 7:
Demonstrate in practice their knowledge and understanding of how ākonga/learners learn

Key indicators:
i. demonstrate knowledge and understanding of social and cultural influences on learning, by working effectively in the bicultural and multicultural contexts of learning in Aotearoa New Zealand
ii. enable ākonga/learners to make connections between their prior experiences and learning and their current learning activities
iii. provide opportunities for ākonga/learners to engage with, practise and apply new learning to different contexts.

Criterion 8:
Respond effectively to the varied strengths, interests and needs of individuals and groups of ākonga/learners

Key indicators:
i. select teaching approaches, resources, technologies and learning and assessment activities that are effective for diverse ākonga/learners
ii. modify teaching approaches to address the needs of individuals and groups of ākonga/learners.

Criterion 9:
Analyse and appropriately use assessment information, which has been gathered formally and informally

Key indicators:
i. analyse assessment information to identify progress and ongoing learning needs of ākonga/learners
ii. use assessment information to give regular and ongoing feedback to guide and support further learning
iii. analyse assessment information to reflect on and evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching
iv. communicate assessment and achievement information to relevant members of the learning community
v. foster involvement of whānau/family in the collection and use of information about the learning of ākonga/learners.

Criterion 10:
Work effectively within the bicultural context of Aotearoa New Zealand

Key indicators:
i. practise, develop and teach the relevant use of te reo Māori me ngā tikanga-a-iwi in context
ii. specifically and effectively address the educational aspirations of ākonga Māori, displaying high expectations for their learning.

Criterion 11:
Promote a collaborative, supportive and effective learning environment

Key indicators:
i. demonstrate effective management of the learning setting which incorporates successful strategies to motivate ākonga/learners
ii. foster trust, respect and cooperation with and among ākonga/learners
iii. encourage ākonga/learners to take responsibility for their own learning and behaviour
iv. assist ākonga/learners to think critically about information and ideas and to reflect on their learning.

Criterion 12:
Demonstrate commitment to critical inquiry and problem-solving in their professional practice

Key indicators:
i. systematically and critically engage with evidence to reflect on and refine practice
ii. respond professionally to feedback from other members of the learning community
iii. critically examine their own beliefs (including cultural beliefs) and how they impact on their professional practice and the achievement of akonga / learners.

Discussion Questions on the draft Registered Teacher Criteria

The questions have been included in this pack to probe the key elements of teaching practice in your setting. The questions are designed to enable you to reflect on your own teaching practice and whether the draft RTC describe this practice. Each question accompanies a question on the feedback form and should help you fill out the form.

When reflecting on the draft RTC we also want you to think about whether anything is missing in the criteria.

1. In relation to criteria 1 to 5 (professional relationships and professional values), do the draft RTC encompass the key relationships relevant to teaching in your setting?
What changes would you suggest, if any, to criteria 1 to 5 to ensure the criteria reflect the key relationships you have as a teacher?
(see Feedback Form questions 1a and 1c )

2. In relation to criteria 1 to 5 (professional relationships and professional values), do the draft RTC encompass the key values important to teachers in your setting?
What changes would you suggest, if any, to criteria 1 to 5 to ensure the criteria reflect the key values important to teachers in your setting?
(see Feedback Form questions 1b and 1c)

3. In relation to criteria 6 to 12 (professional knowledge in practice), do the draft RTC encompass the important professional knowledge you use to promote learning in your setting?
What changes would you suggest, if any, to criteria 6 to 12 to ensure the criteria reflect the important professional knowledge you use to promote learning in your setting?
(see Feedback Form questions 1d and 1f)

4. In relation to criteria 6 to 12 (professional knowledge in practice), do the draft RTC reflect the key professional practices you use to promote learning in your setting?
What changes would you suggest, if any, to criteria 6 to 12 to ensure the criteria reflect the key professional practices teachers use to promote learning in your setting?
(see Feedback Form questions 1e and 1f)

5. Does the draft RTC provide a useful framework to help you reflect on your own teaching practices?
What changes would you suggest, if any, to the draft RTC to enable the criteria to help you reflect on your teaching practice?
(see Feedback Form questions 2a, 2b and 2c)

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