Education Minister Hekia Parata has announced the committee tasked with reviewing the Teachers Council:
“The goal is to ensure that the Teachers’ Council is a strong, professional body that will set and enforce high standards, promote effective teaching practice, develop the professional community of teachers, and lead public discussion on education issues,” Ms Parata says.
“The Teachers’ Council Review Committee will investigate the council’s current capability to focus on these roles, and on what structural and legislative arrangements might be needed to ensure effectiveness.”
Pauline Winter has been appointed chair of the committee and Dr Judith Aitken, John Morris, Robyn Baker and Jonathan Krebs members.
“The committee has skills and expertise right across education, business, the State Sector, and professional bodies. They’ll seek input from a wide range of stakeholders, and report to me at the end of October.
“This Government is determined to lift student achievement, and we know that quality teaching has the biggest in-school impact on achievement,” Ms Parata says.
“Strong professional leadership, distinct from government or industrial organisations, will achieve a great deal in lifting the status and profile of teaching as a career for the 21st century.”
One of the reasons the views of teachers aren’t always taken seriously is that their spokespeople are almost always unions which have vested interests and political bias.
Ensuring the council is a strong, professional body that will concentrate on professional rather than industrial or political matters will be better for the profession and those they teach.
Homepaddock 
As a teacher I would like some accountability from the council. We have to pay fees to them to be a registered teacher and provide evidence that we are meeting the RTCs.
What do they have to do?
I’m not sure they do concentrate on industrial or political matters – where is your evidence of that? I don’t think they do much at all.
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HB – the Teachers’ Council doesn’t and shouldn’t concentrate on industrial or political matters. It should concentrate on professional matters and the aim of the review is to ensure it does.
Unions focus on industrial and political issues, which is their role but that’s almost all the public hears/sees. We rarely hear/see anything from the Council.
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One of the reasons the views of teachers aren’t always taken seriously is that their spokespeople are almost always unions which have vested interests and political bias.
Pretty much exactly why Federated Farmers aren’t taken seriously.
Inevitably professional and industrial and political matters overlap. Not completely, but it would be odd to think that there was no connection between professional and industrial matters.
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“Ensuring the council is a strong, professional body that will concentrate on professional rather than industrial or political matters will be better for the profession and those they teach”
The quote from your post makes it seem like you think they do concentrate on industrial or political matters (the way it is worded).
I agree with your comment above though.
Looking at this page
http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/pubres/corporatepubs/strategicplan2009-12.stm
it is hard to see what they are doing toward a large number of the listed goals or the listed functions and responsibilities. Particularly the communications strategy.
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Deborah, there are overlaps but sometimes there are conflicts between industrial and/or political interests and professional ones. Feds isn’t politically aligned, as some unions are, which is different from being apolitical. It does trynto improve industry standards but it’s also a lobby group. I don’t think you can liken it to professional bodies like the Teachers’ Council or eg the College of Physicians.
HB – I agree my sentence wasn’t clear.
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If you ask most teachers what teachers council does you’ll get a one word answer, registration. Which give the council is looking after 100,000 ECE, Primary and Secondary teachers is a huge undertaking.
I have to say I’m disappointed that the review board doesn’t include at least one actual practising teacher (and no a retired principal doesn’t count). If the goal is to help develop the teaching professional community, then not having at least one, but ideally a mix of teachers for input would be needed.
Disclosure: I have worked with Teachers Council on a project this year.
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