Failure to manage teacher supply shortchanges young people massively

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

The Minister has announced new measures to provide ‘limited authorities to teach’ to encourage unqualified teachers and teachers who no longer hold registration to work as relief teachers in schools.

“She is essentially looking to flood classrooms with unregistered relievers as the teaching shortage bites.

“Very few of these relievers will be across the new requirements for the implementation of level 1 NCEA, or the new English and Maths curriculum or structured literacy delivery. Some teachers without practising certificates won’t have taught for well over three years.

“Principals are already reporting that the constant use of relievers impacts on students’ enjoyment of school, which then impacts on attendance. Having more unqualified and uncertificated people in front of them is not going to help with this. Secondary students need specialist teachers who are grounded in their subject and can challenge and stretch students’ learning and knowledge.”

Chris Abercrombie says the Minister’s response is evidence of a systemic failure to recognise and value teaching and ensure that teachers are retained and new teachers are attracted to the profession.

“Rather than responding to this crisis with a set of ad hoc measures, the Government needs to urgently create a workforce strategy for the teaching workforce.”

Chris Abercrombie says the Government needs to support the teaching profession with adequate resourcing of new NCEA requirements, better wrap around services for students who need them, and improved pay and working conditions for teachers.

“The cold, hard fact of the matter is that there are thousands of highly skilled and experienced former teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand today who would come back to school next week if the salary and conditions were attractive.

“Every young person has a right to a trained and registered specialist teacher in every subject. Denying them that right, because of a failure to ensure a consistent supply of New Zealand trained and qualified secondary teachers, undermines the life choices of our young people and the future of Aotearoa New Zealand.”

He said the Minister also needed to seriously consider the double standard of pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into charter schools – which Treasury advised against – while severely under-funding the public education system, where the vast majority of students and teachers are learning and working.

Joint statement on proposed changes to oversight of Initial Teacher Education

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

Our strong belief is that the oversight of initial teacher education should be “by the profession, for the profession”.  We do not support the proposal from the Minister of Education to move oversight of Initial Teacher Education from the Teaching Council to the Ministry of Education. 

 The Minister already has the ability to communicate her expectations to the Council and appoints members to its governing board.  Direct political control of professional programmes and standards by Ministers through the Ministry would be an over-reach and is tantamount to political interference.   Such Ministerial direction does not occur with the training of lawyers, doctors, nurses or other professions and would be inappropriate for the teaching profession. 

 Moving oversight and approval of initial teacher education programmes to the Ministry of Education would remove it from oversight by an independent statutory body governed by a council jointly elected by teachers and appointed by the Minister — and would therefore reduce partially or wholly both the professional independence and voice of teachers in terms of who determines teacher education standards. 

No evidence has been provided by the Ministry about how it could improve initial teacher education and it has neither the capability, capacity or confidence from the profession to take on this role. 

Removing ITE oversight from the Teaching Council is a significant change, with implications for key stakeholders – particularly the more than 100,000 teachers who pay Council fees, who vote for Council representatives and who have fought for an independent professional body.  

 There are also implications for the Crown’s Te Tiriti obligations to kaiako Māori if this decision is taken without adequate consultation with kaiako Māori and the outcome is a new agency and framework for ITE established without their input.

A short, “targeted” consultation period is therefore rushed and inadequate.

Options to extend the school strike notification period in the Education and Training Act 2020

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

Recently the Ministry of Education opened consultation on a proposal to extend the required notice period for strikes in schools, you can find information about the process here. PPTA has made a submission recommending that any change be consistent with requirements for other essential services under the Employment Relations Act to be “no less than 3 days”.

In our submission, we have emphasised that:

  • Our priority is always to avoid industrial action.
  • The Ministry of Education plays a significant role in the breakdown of negotiations and improvements in the approach to negotiations would limit the need to take industrial action.
  • Current practice is already to give more than the three days formal notice required.

You can read our full submission here and if you are a parent or whānau member of a school-aged child/young person we encourage you to submit personally in your capacity as a parent who supports teachers’ rights. Please feel free to pass this info onto family members and friends.

Submissions close on 6th September

Charter schools will leave students vulnerable and undermine teaching profession

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

He was presenting PPTA’s oral submission on the proposed charter schools legislation, being considered by Parliament’s education and workforce select committee this week.

Kieran Gainsford said in the United Kingdom where charter schools- called academies – dominate the education system, research found that class-based inequality was widening because students were being denied access to qualified teachers.

“In New Zealand, Limited Authority to Teach (unregistered teachers) positions are meant to be a gap filler, not a way to circumvent the professional training and registration of our teaching workforce.”

PPTA Te Wehengarua recommended in its submission that the ability for state schools to be converted to charter schools be removed from the proposed legislation.

“The conversion of state schools to charter schools would have an extreme impact on school communities.The possiblity that just a single person from a school ‘community’ could team up with a sponsor and apply to have a state school converted is very concerning.

“We also have grave concerns about the possibility of directed conversions of state schools to charter schools. The proposed legislation enables the Minister alone to direct a school to convert. This is an outrageous and unwarranted exercise of Ministerial power with the potential to affect thousands of people . There is more than enough capacity within the current sytem to address issues that arise, rather than forcing a school into a conversion process.”

The proposed conversion provisions eliminate teachers’ employment protections and remove unions’ ability to initiate for multi-employer collective agreements covering charter schools –  which breaches international law.

PPTA Te Wehengarua also recommended that charter schools be required to teach the national curriculum.

“Our current curriculum works on both a national and local level. Internationally we have seen that many charter schools focus on extremely stripped back curricula and standardised or rote learning to ensure their contracts are continued. This is the opposite of innovation.”

PPTA Te Wehengarua submission

Government desperately trying to patch up charter school model even before it’s started

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

“Cabinet’s decision to allow charter schools to have access to the same level of teaching resources as state schools, is an acknowledgement that the charter school model of state-funded private schools is unworkable.

“Charter schools are being sold on a model of bespoke, bulk funded, flexibility. However, as we know, this is not possible, especially when it comes to supporting students with additional needs. By allowing charter schools to have access to state specialist services such as resource teachers, they are admitting that the charter school system can’t work and that it needs to be able to cannibalise off the public functions of state education to provide some semblance of effective support for students.

“We saw this with allowing access to period products in schools as well. Unless charter schools are going to be charged for it, it’s an invisible increase to their cost, which is already higher than the state system. The Government is trying to patch up a model that doesn’t work, before it has even started.

“It increasingly looks like things are being made up as this process is rushed along, to shore up failings in the model and to protect private sponsors from the actual costs of meeting student needs, instead passing these costs back to the state. This will inevitably mean less funding for the needs of students in the state school system.”

Chris Abercrombie said the Cabinet’s decision to not allow unions to negotiate multi-employer collective agreements for charter schools staff, was a significant departure from New Zealand’s current employment law.

“No school is an island – evidence shows that schools do better when they don’t compete. Having core terms and conditions that are consistent across charter schools would be a good thing, not a limitation.

“If people want to run a charter school, then multi-employer collective agreements should be something that they can easily participate in.”

Chris Abercrombie said these last minute changes to proposed legislation showed the weaknesses of trying to introduce massive structural changes to the education sector under urgency.

“This is not how legislation should be made and the Attorney General Hon. Judith Collins has already warned the Prime Minister about the dangers of rushed legislative processes.”

Rushed consultation on charter schools shows Government’s complete disconnect from communities

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

“The legislation contains far-reaching changes which have very significant implications for school communities. The secrecy around this legislation and the speed at which it is being pushed through shows a disconnect with the realities of busy parents and communities. All families are working incredibly hard during the cost of living crisis, it’s a huge ask to then drop everything to engage in this consultation – but the decisions being made are incredibly important.

“This time around the legislation will not only enable existing local state schools to convert to charter schools, it will also enable the Minister to order an existing state school to convert, and it will enable any single person in the community to propose converting a local state school to a charter school.

“What happens if parents don’t want to send their children to a converted charter school or students don’t want to attend such a school– what rights do they have? Where are the rights of school communities in all of this?”

The proposed legislation also contains drastic changes to the employment conditions of teachers employed at a school that converts to a charter school. “The legislation proposes to completely override teachers’current rights both in employment law and their collective agreement – this is a profound change that, along with the other changes, deserves a decent amount of scrutiny.

“Rather than fast tracking the consultation process, the Government should be rolling out a comprehensive programme letting school communities know what is in store and encouraging them to have their say.”

The Education and Training Amendment Bill, which provides the framework to establish charter schools, had its first reading under urgency today and has been referred to the education and workforce select committee. The select committee has been instructed to report back in early September, allowing approximately eight weeks for the written and oral submission process.

Charter schools legislation contains unpleasant surprises

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

“We are shocked to see it includes legislating completely over teachers’ rights under employment law and their own employment agreement.”

Usually if public schools merge or close, teachers can access support to relocate to other schools, or are eligible for redundancy type provisions. However, this legislation proposes that if a public school converts to a charter school, then teachers, principals, and all school employees would be forced to either transfer to the new charter school – or resign.

This is despite charter schools having stark differences to state schools. For example, charter schools will not be required to employ trained and registered teachers or teach the New Zealand Curriculum or provide a New Zealand qualification. 

“Effectively the Government is seeking to strong-arm teachers into charter schools. Associate Education Minister David Seymour has said repeatedly that teachers will want to teach in charter schools. Why then remove the provisions that protect teachers’ choice to opt out of a conversion with dignity and keep our valuable teachers in the state school teaching workforce?”

Chris Abercrombie said there was no proof that charter schools were successful when they were introduced last time – and the fact that all of them, bar one, have been reintegrated into the state school system showed they were an unnecessary experiment.

“There is nothing charter schools claim to do that can’t be done in a local state school, given the resources and political commitment. The only thing charter schools have been proven to do is to open the door to the privatisation of our education system by enabling businesses to come in and run schools for a profit.

“New Zealanders want their local schools to be community assets, run by local representatives – not commercial conglomerates. The $153 million being poured into the charter school experiment could – and should – be put to far better use in our local state schools.”

Kiwi secondary school students up with the top in international assessment of creativity

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

The assessment, carried out in 2022, of 15-year-olds from 64 countries, asked students to think of original and diverse solutions for simple expressive tasks and familiar problems, such as coming up with an interesting story idea or thinking of different ways to conduct an awareness-raising campaign in school.

New Zealand students’ results were among the top seven countries in the assessment – the first time PISA has assessed students’ creative thinking competencies.

Chris Abercrombie, PPTA Te Wehengarua president, says the results highlight the creativity of rangatahi, with 2/3 of students seeing beauty in everyday things, 1/3 expressing themselves through art and Aotearoa New Zealand students reporting above average ‘openness to art and experience’.  “There is no doubt that literacy and numeracy are important, but the Arts certainly has an important place in our curriculum also.

“Equipping rangatahi with these kinds of creative problem solving and lateral thinking skills is increasingly important in this day and age and Kiwi teachers should be very proud of these results,” says Chris Abercrombie, PPTA Te Wehengarua president.

“Teachers are committed to, and passionate about, helping young people to navigate confidently and competently their future beyond the school gate – a future where innovative problem solving and diverse creative thinking and critical thinking skills will be increasingly essential.”

He says the PISA results pose a challenge for the Government’s approach to education which seems to favour more standardisation and streamlining of teaching. Also, a critique of the recently released Ministerial Advisory Group on English and Mathematics* recommends that:  ‘To ensure an inclusive, effective, and holistic educational approach, it is crucial to balance the potential benefits of structured teaching with the flexibility required to meet diverse student needs effectively and respect their cultural contexts’.

Chris Abercrombie said he hoped the creativity assessment represented a new direction for PISA, away from the more traditional rote-learning assessments of the past. “It would certainly encourage more New Zealand schools and students to take part.”

*Ministerial Advisory Group report critique

PISA media release

Ombudsman investigates charter schools OIA request complaint

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

“We are delighted the Ombudsman has decided to investigate our complaint,” says Chris Abercrombie, PPTA Te Wehengarua president. “We believe the refusal to release this information is extraordinary and demonstrates that neither the Ministry of Education nor Associate Education Minister David Seymour are meeting their responsibilities to release information proactively.”

The complaint from PPTA Te Wehengarua relates to its request in March for information about the Government’s policy, advice and costings for the re-introduction of charter schools.

The Ministry’s response to the request, received in May, identified 25 documents as in scope of the request. Only two of the documents have been released in part. Four documents have had even their titles withheld and 17 documents have been withheld under section 18(d) as ‘soon to be publicly available’. However, as at the date of the complaint, only three of these documents are currently listed – not published but title given – on the Ministry of Education website. All other papers, specifically those that have been prepared for Associate Education Minister David Seymour, are not listed on the website.

PPTA’s complaint to the Ombudsman says that ‘despite including in our request that a date be provided for any documents withheld under section 18(d), the Ministry has failed to provide a date by which the information will be available, nor have they previously notified us when information has been made available. We do not have confidence that the refusal is justified based on ‘the agency [being] reasonably certain that the requested information will be published in the near future (and be able to articulate when and where).’

Chris Abercrombie said the public deserved to know more about the proposed model for charter schools. “This is particularly important, given the coalition agreement allows for state schools to be forced to convert to charter schools. What is that going to mean for communities and local schools? Local communities are being left completely in the dark.

“The Government has said that charter schools will be funded on roughly the same level as public schools but have refused to release any information about the funding model. Recent budget announcements that charter schools will be able to access the period products in schools programme contradict the completely independent, bulk funding model that the Minister has been promoting.”

As the Government has stated it intends to introduce charter school legislation by 30 June, obtaining the official information was a matter of urgency for communities and PPTA Te Wehengarua members, he said.

“The lack of transparency around the plans for charter schools gives us cause for serious concern about how they will operate when they are re-introduced. More than $150 million of taxpayers’ money is being poured into charter schools all under a huge cloud of secrecy. This is not the Kiwi way.” 

It’s all about relationships

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

Negotiating corporate deals, private investigator, security guard, international teacher, unionist to the core. That’s a very short summary of the working life of John Dyer-Causton.

John started teaching English at Auckland Grammar School (AGS) in 2018. Pretty quickly he was drawn into the sphere of PPTA Te Wehengarua first as branch secretary and now as AGS branch chair.

Keeping the branch together

In 2023, a year of significant industrial action for PPTA Te Wehengarua members, John’s priority was to keep the branch and staff together and to keep everyone moving in the same direction.

This even extended to keeping the principal in the loop about what industrial action would look like and working to create a relationship that would serve the members well.

John took an educational approach and was not afraid of taking on a difficult conversation.

Focus on the future

John’s focus was on the fact that 2023 was going to be difficult but whatever the tensions that arose a resolution would be reached eventually. After that all the staff – members and non-members – would have to live and work together.

He framed conversations positively, insisting that the industrial actions were in the interests of the school community so that the branch was not to be seen as acting against the interests of the community.

Quiet words and backstage conversations

John was walking a tightrope, doing a balancing act, but he did so successfully. In 2023 PPTA Te Wehengarua membership increased to 87, well above previous membership numbers.

John continued to monitor any issues that arose within the membership. There were lots of ‘quiet words’ and backstage conversations with senior staff in a bid to resolve issues at the lowest level.

For John it is all about relationships, ensuring that the branch carried out the requirements of the industrial action while keeping the staff united. The employer recognised this with a Staff Award to John at the end of 2023.

PPTA Te Wehengarua is pleased to support John Dyer-Causton as the recipient of the Guy Allan Award for Branch Activism 2023.

* PPTA Te Wehengarua established the Guy Allan award in 2005 to recognise outstanding branch activism in the Counties-Manukau and Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland regions. The award commemorates the late Guy Allan — a former PPTA branch chair and an Auckland-based field officer who was renowned for his commitment to unionism and branch activism.