Professional Learning & Appraisal
Processes Video Transcript
The start for us was to focus most importantly on professional learning. We had an appraisal
system that we weren’t happy with, but we had an idea for professional learning that we
really, really wanted to achieve. And so the focus was entirely what we are doing as teachers
to learn, what we are doing to collaborate, what we are doing to share our practice with
each other. The research was telling us that if we moved away from a tick box system, if we
moved away from simple compliance and we focused on what we were doing and learning
together and collaborating then maybe we would get far more uptake.
When the criteria changed to the new Registered Teacher Criteria it was incredibly easy for
us because the focus was around collaboration, around professional learning, the questions,
and the standards and the evidence were all around professional learning
and collaboration.
I suppose one of most important questions out of all of this is what impact it has on the
students and their learning. And to me the most important impact is over the last 4 or
5 years that we’ve been doing this, the conversation in the staff room, particularly on
Thursday mornings which is when we have our professional learning time is about learning
and the teaching that is going on. It’s about the students, what they are trying to do for the
students in their class. What difference it will make to the students in their class. I guess that
whole inquiry process
By the time they submit the folder at the end of the year they will have discussed with
the professional learning group or their peer or whoever it is they are working with their
progress against the Registered Teacher Criteria and in that discussion they will have looked
at things that are weak or thin, where there is not so much evidence. They will have looked
at things that are strong and discussed those strengths.
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When we consider the evidence, I suppose the thing that mattered to us most is that we
didn’t end up with another compliance system where teachers’ behaviour was being or
professional learning was being totally determined by the need to find evidence or create
evidence, that the professional learning and their conduct as professionals was the most
important thing. And they needed to be safe in the knowledge that at the end of the year
when they sat down there would be plenty of evidence that they had met the Registered
Teacher Criteria and on an annual basis if there is one or two criteria that are not met, that’s
not the end of the world because that’s setting the targets for the following year which then
become a greater priority but again it’s not about running around proving yourself, it’s about
developing yourself as a professional.
The other purpose of reviewing the folders at the end of the year is to take I suppose data
or to take trends out of what we see there, in particular the strengths of the staff and what
they are doing really well against the Registered Teacher Criteria and to celebrate those
strengths. And also to take the weaker or areas were staff don’t feel so confident. The areas
that staff don’t feel so confident in we offer to staff as potential focuses for our professional
learning for the year. Staff are usually pretty keen to take on those areas because they are
not feeling confident and they’re areas they want to work on. From a staff point of view,
there are endless staff stories about what a difference it’s made to their practice because
they’ve had a chance to… for instance an old staff member’s point of view, an older staff
member’s point of view to share what they are doing and their experience with someone
who’s a bit younger or newer or share just with a peer the fact that they are trusted to make
judgements about themselves the fact they are trusted to determine to a degree what they
are doing with their professional learning , the fact they have an opportunity to talk about
actual professional learning.
Behind all of that I think it’s the conversations that are allowed to occur and that how that
contributes to the evidence that makes the biggest difference to the students in their class.
www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz