As members return to schools they will no doubt reflect on the considerable changes Great Teaching Inspired Learning (GTIL) will bring about in NSW.
If, as State Education Minister Adrian Piccoli asserts, GTIL is the most significant educational shift in 100 years, it must be reflected in salaries. To disconnect significant change from remuneration is to devalue the teaching profession.
The changes are considerable and when linked to the implementation of the Australian Curriculum they are magnified further.
Some of the changes coming your way include:
- From 2014-15 all schools and systems will need to introduce teacher performance and development processes based on the Proficient level of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, including agreement between the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards (BOSTES) and employing authorities around the incorporation of requirements for accreditation purposes.
- By late 2016 (secondary teachers) and 2017 (primary teachers), all pre-2004 teachers will be required to be accredited under the Institute of Teachers Act 2004.
- From 2017 (secondary) and 2018 (primary), all teachers will be required to undergo a five-year cycle of maintenance of accreditation which will require evidence of completed professional development but also evidence of meeting standards “including through the annual, integrated performance and development processes”.
To artificially limit salary increases to 2.27% or potentially 2.5% does not provide recognition of teachers’ work. To constrain industrial outcomes rather than negotiate beyond the cap is unproductive.
Members should give thought to what action is appropriate to ensure Catholic systemic employers come to the table prepared to acknowledge significant change.