Dr Peter Lind & Carol ShandACEL Conference Sydney

Australia1 October 2015

Issues of Teacher Competence

Issues of Teacher Competence

Teaching Sector

Sector Number Percentage

Early Childhood 37 28%

Primary 59 44%

Secondary 32 24%

Kura Kaupapa 6 4%

Trigger

Trigger Number Percentage

Teacher resigning 121 90%

Termination of employment

11 8%

Subject of a complaint 2 2%

Registration Status

Status Number Percentage

Provisional 26 19%

Full 103 77%

Subject to confirmation

3 2%

Unregistered 2 1%

Teaching experience

Experience Number Percentage

Low (< 5 years) 27 20%

Medium (6 – 10 years)

36 27%

High (11 years +) 71 53%

Years Number Percentage

< 30 yrs 8 6%

30-39 yrs 21 16%

40-49 yrs 32 24%

50-59 yrs 49 37%

60 + yrs 24 18%

Age of teachers

What is the impact on students’ learning of this teacher’s

professional practice?

Outcome Number Percentage

No further action 20 15%

Agreement to conditions 45 34%

Agreement to conditions & annotations on Register

33 25%

Imposed conditions 1 1%

Imposed conditions & annotations on Register

20 15%

Cancellation of registration 10 7%

Awaiting outcome 5 4%

Council outcome

Emerging themes

• Ability to plan & implement an appropriate learning programme over a sustained period

• Effective management of learning environment• Ability to promote student learning through effective

appraisal• Ability to build & maintain effective professional

relationships with learners, parents & colleagues

Case study 1

• teacher resigned after having undergone proceedings designed to support her to address significant competence concerns

• teacher resigned before Council received a mandatory report from the school

• teacher obtained a senior teaching position at another school

Concerns…

• Difficulty providing planning that showed clearly the programmes of work [had] been delivered…

• struggling with content… • struggled to assess accurately the children’s achievements… • term 2 reports incomplete not sent ... term 3 reports still

incomplete … • teacher struggled on many occasions to teach effectively… • children were becoming unruly... behaviour deteriorated

further (Principal).

Response to concerns

• Regular meetings ‘tween teacher & principal focused on appropriate actions to rectify the concerns

• Professional development focused on numeracy & literacy

• Support from colleagues• Progress reports & appraisals

Second position

• Teacher appointed to a senior position • References focused on her character rather than teaching

competence• Similar issues arose to previous employment• 20-week period of advice & guidance including mentoring

in teaching techniques, behaviour management, planning & assessment, curriculum knowledge in literacy & maths

Outcome Case 1

• There is an enormous yawning chasm between this teacher’s performance and the standards of competence expected...This is a rare example of a teacher who, even after extensive support, has no ability to critically reflect on her teaching practice…

• Perhaps professional leaders were overly influenced by her expertise in an area for which there was a paucity of trained & qualified teachers

• Te Reo Maori and tikanga (cultural understanding)

Case Study 2

• Secondary school teacher with 8 years of successful practice

• Primarily taught junior high school classes• Had team taught a senior high school class with a

colleague for a 3-year period

Trigger for concern

• Relationship difficulties with her Head of Department (HOD) resulted in a letter to the Principal from the teacher

• Mediation between HOD and teacher occurred• Concerns raised by the Principal about her support &

cooperation with colleagues & effective communication• No documentation of mediation & outcome provided by

the school • 10 weeks of support provided but again no detailed

evidence of this by school

Further concerns

• 2 further complaints were documented• Teacher was perceived as “aggressive & challenging”• 3 criteria identified teacher had breached:• inter-staff communication• supporting & cooperating with colleagues• reporting on student progress

Principal stated…

“she was aware of the concerns from day one …she has a

big personality and by her very presence intimidated a

number of staff. I had suggested to her at various times

that her personality was 'too big' for our school being a

girls' school and that she would experience more success

in a boys' school where there are many people of her

physical stature and they are likely to be less 'sensitive'”.

Outcome: No evidence provided in regard to:

• communications between the teacher and principal about the concerns

• details of the support provided and professional development• records of any communications with the teacher throughout

the duration of the support and guidance plan identifying her progress

• the teacher’s letters to the principal outlining her concerns about colleagues

• the principal’s response to the teacher’s letters of concern• minutes and communications about the mediation • minutes or communications about meetings held between

the teacher, union representative and principal, or any other party

• the teacher’s reports about her students’ progress• observations and appraisals of the teacher.

Summary

• Teachers need to be provided with opportunity to become or return to a competent professional

• Verifiable evidence needs to be gathered about this journey

• Of 134 cases, only 7% of cases resulted in cancellation of registration

Some teachers simply entered the wrong

profession, others have lost their will or ability

to help students succeed (Futernick,

2010)