Commencing Term 3, NESA has advised that teachers will no longer be required to lodge their elective PD on eTAMS and provide a 300-character statement as to how the activity met the Standard Descriptors.
Teachers will now be required to maintain a simple log which lists the date and duration of the course and the standard descriptors it addressed.
Only the accredited PD requirements must still be completed on eTAMS.
The union considers this a significant improvement to the elective PD process. It puts teachers back in control of their PD program and it displays a professional trust of teachers, for which the union has long been asking.
In the past, teachers have often considered elective PD to be of lesser value that accredited PD. Members are encouraged to reassess this concept as elective PD should be more readily available, more suited to individual needs and, more often, free of cost.
There is no reason for any member to undertake more than the mandatory 50 hours of accredited PD unless it is readily and freely available.
Members are strongly encouraged to pursue elective PD which suits their interests and professional needs. Examples of electives might include:
- any course and/or activity in a priority area that is not accredited
- efforts to integrate ICT into teaching practice
- activities involving legislative requirements (eg anaphylaxis, child protection, sectoral/school policy requirements etc)
- meeting professional ethics and responsibilities, including courses on meeting teacher accreditation requirements
• strategies for effective engagement with parents, carers and the community - mentoring or coaching that supports your teaching practice
- educational leadership
- relevant further study, and
- professional commitment activities (for HALTs).
Roles and responsibilities that are part of your duties as a teacher are not counted as elective PD, including programming, procedural staff meetings, event coordination and excursions, writing reports and parent/teacher meetings.
NESA has provided a template log which can be downloaded from their website which clearly indicates to level of detail they require: bit.ly/nesalogtemplate
IEU members are advised that there is no obligation for their personal PD information to be retained on a central data drive or made available to the principal. Should this occur, members should contact their IEU organiser immediately.