Subject to Confirmation to Full Registration Scenarios
Pita
Pita is an experienced teacher and was previously a Deputy Principal of a large Primary School. He has been relief teaching for the last few years and he currently has a practising certificate with the category of Subject to Confirmation (STC) - you can read more scenarios about teachers with this category here.
Since January 2010 Pita had been relieving solely at Summer Heights Primary. Pita has been offered a fixed term position at Summer Heights for Term 2 of 2011. He is keen to move to full registration and so checked the requirements on the Teachers Council website. Pita notes he needs to complete an Induction and Mentoring programme for at least one term (three months) and be recommended for full registration during the three year cycle of his practising certificate. His practising certificate is due to expire in October 2011.
Pita knows that the fixed term 0.7 Full Time Teaching Equivalent (FTTE) position in Term 2 will give him sufficient teaching service to demonstrate he meets the Registered Teacher Criteria (RTC), and therefore to gain full registration. He arranges a meeting with the Deputy Principal, Anne, who facilitates the Induction and Mentoring programmes for teachers moving to full registration. Anne and Pita develop an appropriate programme to be implemented in Term 2 using the Registered Teacher Criteria as the basis. They plan times for meetings and for Anne to observe Pita teaching and then for discussion to take place following these observations.
Pita and Anne discuss the fact that the recommendation for full registration should be able to be made towards the end of Term 2 on the TC2 application form. As Pita's practising certificate expires in October they are unsure when Pita needs to apply for this and which application form to submit. Pita emailed the Teachers Council at their Inquiries address and received the following response:
Dear Pita
Thank you for your email. Once you have completed the requirements for full registration you can be recommended for full registration on the TC2 application form. When this application is approved your category of registration will be changed to full, however, your practising certificate expiry date will remain the same.
I note that your practising certificate expires on 21 October 2011. To allow time for the processing of your application before your practising certificate expires you should submit an application by early August.
The application form which you fill in to update your practising certificate will depend on your category of registration. If you have moved to full registration by early August then you would be submitting a TC3 application form. If you still hold registration STC then you will need to submit a TC1 application form.
Anne and Pita plan to complete the Induction and Mentoring programme at the end of Term 2 in early July, and so will apply for full registration on the TC2 application form then. They will then also submit the TC3 application form to apply to renew Pita's practising certificate. As October 2011 is the Council's peak renewal time and there is a significant increase in applications from August to October, Pita plans to submit his application early in August, well before his practising certificate expiry date.
As Pita's recent teaching service has been day relieving, Anne and Pita agree that a key focus for the term will be supporting his new learning and development in managing a diverse and multi-leveled classroom and the student inquiry based learning cycle. This learning will include Pita identifying appropriate professional development and joining a local teachers' cluster group.
When planning his programme, Anne and Pita had a discussion about the Registered Teacher Criteria, which from 2011 are the new standards for registration. As an experienced teacher Pita enthusiastically explored the Council website to access further resources and information about the development of the Registered Teacher Criteria. He also looked at how they link to the appraisal systems in schools. When he was Deputy Principal Pita had been responsible for co-ordinating and overseeing his school's Performance Management System. He could see from looking at the reflective questions in the Registered Teacher Criteria Handbook and the matrices for the RTC how beneficial the appraisal conversations could be using these, and how this would enhance the rigour and value of a school's Performance Management System.
Siobhan
Siobhan came to New Zealand in 2010 from overseas. She has eight years of teaching experience in Ireland and England, including a position as a secondary school Principal. She accepted a position as Head of Department - Maths at St Margaret's High School beginning in January 2011.
Siobhan has a practising certificate with the category of STC. This category of registration recognises her previous teaching experience and senior teaching position. At St Margaret's High School the Specialist Classroom Teacher, Sally, was assigned to be Siobhan's mentor teacher. As Siobhan was an experienced overseas teacher and the Registered Teacher Criteria were the new standards being used in the school, the Principal of St Margaret's High emailed the Teachers Council at their Inquiries address. She asked for clarification about the appropriate standards and process to be followed in this situation. He received the following response:
Dear Mr Walls
Thank you for your email. All teachers beginning an Induction and Mentoring programme in 2011 need to use the Registered Teacher Criteria as the teaching standards. An experienced teacher from overseas who has the category of registration STC needs to complete an Induction and Mentoring programme of at least one term (three months).
The teacher can be recommended for full registration on the TC2 application form on completion of this programme if the teacher has met all the Registered Teacher Criteria and there is evidence from this programme that all the Registered Teacher Criteria have been met.
This clarified Siobhan's situation and Siobhan and Sally met to develop a programme for Term 1 of 2011. They identified that the main areas of focus for the programme should be familiarisation with the NZ curriculum, NZ assessment tools, and valuing, awareness and understanding of the bicultural nature of the NZ teaching environment.
In discussing key assessment practices and issues in secondary schools in New Zealand Sally felt it would be appropriate for Siobhan to explore in more depth a comparison between the assessment practices in the UK and those at St Margaret's. This created the impetus for Siobhan to refer to the NZQA and Ministry of Education websites and from there she found links to other relevant sites. With this material and her expertise and experience in effective assessment practice from the UK Siobhan ran a highly successful workshop, comparing and contrasting the two systems, for teachers at her school. This opened up a really worthwhile professional discussion and debate on the issue.
Sally observed Siobhan teaching this workshop and her classes and Siobhan also observed in other classes in the school.
Sally knew that in order to make the recommendation for Siobhan to move to full registration she needed to be assured that Siobhan:
•· met all of the Registered Teacher Criteria
•· had a current practising certificate
•· had completed an appropriate Induction and Mentoring programme and
•· had been employed in a teaching position with an Induction and Mentoring programme for at least three months.
Having come from the UK Siobhan was interested in the Registered Teacher Criteria in comparison to the framework for teaching standards in the UK. As the Registered Teacher Criteria are new for St Margaret's they are running fortnightly meetings unpacking each of the criteria. This helps develop a shared understanding of their meaning and the types of evidence that would be relevant and appropriate for a teacher to demonstrate they met the specific criteria. Siobhan found this process extremely useful particularly as once she was a fully registered teacher she was likely to be a mentor teacher to others moving to full registration from provisional or STC.
Sally and Siobhan had their final formal meeting in the last week of Term 1. They reviewed the programme and Sally completed the TC2 application form to recommend that Siobhan be granted full registration. This application form also needed to be endorsed by the Principal. After discussing the programme and reviewing the material with Sally and Siobhan the Principal endorsed the application and this was then forwarded to the Teachers Council.
Suzanne
Over the last five years Suzanne was employed as a Senior Advisor with the Education, Curriculum and Performance Group of the Ministry of Education. She accepted a position as Deputy Principal at Weka High School in February 2011. Suzanne has a practising certificate with the category of STC which is due to expire in June.
When beginning her role at Weka High Suzanne was keen to gain full registration. This would enable her to be in the role of co-ordinator of the Induction and Mentoring programmes in the school. She realised that she needed to complete a full term of an Induction and Mentoring programme within the three year cycle of her practising certificate. As her practising certificate expires in June, Suzanne planned to undertake her Induction and Mentoring programme in Term 1 2011.
It was agreed that Suzanne's mentor teacher would be Paul, a Senior Head of Department. They met to discuss the Induction and Mentoring programme for Suzanne. They knew that the role of Deputy Principal is defined as a teaching position in the Education Act and that the teaching that a Deputy Principal or Assistant Principal may do in addition to any classes will be in relation to their responsibilities for leading and teaching the teachers in the school. The key focus for Suzanne's Induction and Mentoring programme was to expand Suzanne's knowledge of Te Kotahitanga as she had not previously been in a school with this programme operating.
There was also a major focus on technology within the school and Suzanne and Paul discussed how Suzanne's programme could build on this especially in relation to one of the indicators of criteria 9 of the Registered Teacher Criteria:
FULLY REGISTERED TEACHERS:
- respond effectively to the diverse language and cultural experiences, and the varied strengths, interests and needs of individuals and groups of ākonga
- 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
- select teaching approaches, resources, technologies and learning and assessment activities that are inclusive and effective for diverse ākonga
- modify teaching approaches to address the needs of individuals and groups of ākonga.
The leading and managing of the technological shift for teachers at Weka High was an appropriate and challenging focus for Suzanne's programme. Paul and Suzanne met regularly throughout the term and Paul observed Suzanne teaching both in the classroom and leading professional development sessions for the teachers. Paul completed the recommendation for full registration on the TC2 application form towards the end of Term 1.