National forum on teacher standards, quality and professionalism

Meeting held in Canberra, 25 May 2003

Report to ALIA

Purpose

The purpose of the forum was to maintain and extend collaborative approaches to teacher standards, quality and professionalism, as well as providing an opportunity to report to and to consult with teachers and other educators about developments in these areas.

Representation

There were approximately 230 participants representing the following groups:

practising teachers,
national teacher organisations,
teacher educators,
statutory bodies,
managers from employing authorities
early-childhood, TAFE, VET, parents

Statement

The national statement from the teaching profession on teacher standards, quality and professionalism, May, 2003 was launched at the forum. A number of guest speakers including Dr Brendan Nelson and Professor Kwong Lee Dow, presented sessions in the morning. These sessions were followed by a roundtable discussion and a panel in the afternoon.

Roundtable discussion

During the roundtable discussion, participants were asked to respond to three questions. The questions and a summary of responses follow:

Direction: Given the current developments (National Statement, National Framework, Review of Teaching) are we headed in the right direction with sufficient speed and genuine collaboration to build a learning profession?

Response: It was generally accepted that we were heading in the right direction, however there were differing opinions regarding the speed. Some thought it was moving too slowly while others held that it needed to be slowed down to ensure meaningful collaboration. In terms of collaboration, some expressed the view that the majority of practitioners were unaware of the standards movement and that more widespread consultation was necessary.
Preparation: Are we doing enough to prepare and support the next generation of educators to teach in Australian schools?

Response: There was an emphatic No to this question. Issues such as mentoring, internship and pre service education were raised. It was the general consensus that teacher education requires a radical rethink.
Professional learning: What form of professional learning will be necessary to develop and sustain the profession over the next decade?

Response: The following ideas were discussed: learning teams, teacher to teacher support, networks, leadership, innovation, change management and collaborative action research.

Other initiatives

From the briefing papers for the day it was apparent that the Statement is one of several initiatives that relate to the issue of teacher quality, standards and professionalism in Australia. Other initiatives include:

The development of A National Framework for Standards for Teaching by MCEETYA Teacher Quality and Educational leadership Taskforce (TQELT). A consultation paper was released in November 2002.
Review of teaching and teacher education as part of the Commonwealth strategy titled Backing Australia's Ability. An interim report: Attracting and Retaining Teachers of Science, Technology and Mathematics was published in February 2003.

Conclusion

It is clear that a great deal of work has been undertaken in the area of teacher standards, quality and professionalism. Equally, the National Statement outlines a number if issues that are still to be addressed through ongoing debate and action. It will be important for ALIA to continue to monitor developments to inform the work already commenced by the joint ALIA/ASLA Issues and Policy Taskforce on Standards for teacher librarians. The National Statement gives further credibility to the work of the joint taskforce as it confirms the importance of developing national standards specifically for teacher librarians.

Sandra Ryan
ALIA representative at the national forum
Co-convener, ALIA Schools Victoria

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