Early Childhood Sector
In October 2014 legislative amendments were passed to enable teachers working in early childhood centres to be accredited. The Quality Teaching Council (at its February meeting) approved a scoping paper for policy to support this significant transition. The IEU has long lobbied as part of its ‘Teachers R Teachers’ campaign, to have ECS teachers eligible to become accredited with the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards (BOSTES).
The Union’s ECS Council considered the scoping paper at its meeting of the 27 February and grappled with the obvious concerns:
Who would be the Teacher Accreditation Authority as ECS workplaces are significantly different to schools and often only one teacher is employed?
The National Professional Standards for Teachers do not describe the work of teachers in ECS workplaces.
These issues are not insurmountable and with the assistance of the IEU ECS council and IEU representation on the committee established by BOSTES, policy will be developed which supports teachers.
Employers’ support
BOSTES is currently developing a draft policy position for Teacher Accreditation Authorities (TAAs) for either individual schools or systems of schools to ensure common processes and outcomes are achieved in relation to the accreditation of teachers.
The IEU has made formal input to BOSTES and will hold further discussions with it in coming weeks. The Union’s view is simple. While teachers must engage with the processes, employers must provide tangible support.
In terms of best practice this would involve release from face-to-face teaching for the teacher and mentor in year one (two hours and one hour respectively) and in year two – at least one-hour release for the early career teacher.
The IEU is offering a significant professional development opportunity in May in relation to best practice in induction and mentoring. The conference, Securing Our Future, is to be held on 21-22 May in Sydney. To register: www.ieu.asn.au
The Union is advocating for random audits of TAAs, the development of appeals processes at school level, distribution of best practice proformas and sanctions for breaches.
