SUBMISSION

To the :- Education and Science Committee

on the :- Inquiry into Teacher Education

Introduction

This submission is from the National Executive of the New Zealand Federation of Graduate Women (Inc.) and compiled by Judith Duncan, 54 Manapouri Street, Ravensbourne, Dunedin 9002.

We would be pleased to appear before the Committee to speak to our submission. Our contact person is:- Mrs Barbara Mabbett, ph 476-7843, a member of our Wellington Branch.

The New Zealand Federation of Graduate (formerly University) Women (NZFGW) has approximately 1300 members in its sixteen nationwide branches. Formed in 1921, it is affiliated to the Geneva-based International Federation of University Women. Since its founding in 1921 (as NZFUW), NZFGW has established a strong record of active involvement in social, economic and educational issues at the national level and internationally through the IFUW (International Federation of University Women with the International Federation's holding Official Observer status at UNESCO.) This submission has resulted from consultation with the sixteen branches in New Zealand and in accordance with our stated goals and philosophies as an organisation. This submission has been compiled by the National Executive Public Affairs Convenor, Judith Duncan

1. Staffing of Teacher Education/Training institutions

We believe that a crucial element for preparing teachers adequately for entry into the teaching service/profession is the quality of the staff within the training institution. These individuals should be experienced, exemplary practitioners and professional leaders. They should have continuing involvement in classrooms, working alongside excellent teachers and maintaining and extending their own knowledge. They should be able to build strong collegial relationships with other staff and have the skills to 'coach' the adults who are their students. Often training institutions are criticised for their out of touch staff and the students themselves can be dismissive and derogatory of these staff, thus resisting the messages rather than learning to be critical, informed and reflective practitioners.

Recommendations:

• that all staff in training institutions should also be involved in educational research themselves;
• that a mechanism be established whereby training institution staff stay up-to-date and fresh. This might be a combination of sabbaticals, secondments, short-term exchanges, research fellowships and so on.

2. The number of providers.

When deciding on the number of institutions that might be accredited to provide teacher education, there are a number of factors to consider. All providers must be able to demonstrate rigorous standards of excellence in their staff and their ability to maintain professional growth. They need to have strong relationships with the schools/early childhood centres they will work with in teacher internships, which are a very significant element in good teacher education. They need to be able to work with staff in those schools/early childhood centres to develop a pool of lead teachers so that students have an appropriate range of teaching practice, both supervised and unsupervised, and the training provider staff need to be able to observe the students and confer with the lead teachers constructively.

In early childhood the proliferation of training providers has seen a reported decrease in quality in programmes. The differences in expectations, skills and final abilities are recorded not only in research (see May, H. (1996). Training, Qualifications and Quality: The Costs of Compromise. Assessing and Improving Quality in Early Childhood Centres. Children s Issues Centre Seminar: School of Medicine, Wellington) but in anecdotal reports from centres. The fierce competition for students (EFT funding) has seen a downgrading of training standards. The 1998 closure of the SEACOH College is an example here.

Recommendations:

• To have the critical mass of staff in all the various departments of a training institution, and to have breadth as well as depth in the programmes, the number of providers needs to be limited and national quality assurance standards well enforced.
• We suggest 6-8 training institutions would meet the teaching workforce needs.
• These institutions could have 'outposts', and some parts of the courses could have a 'distance learning' component, but teaching is a profession which is built on interactions and relationships, on reflective practice, on self-evaluation, and on collegiality. It therefore requires a high proportion of time when tutors and students work together to develop group skills and put theory into action.
• The new requirements for ECE qualifications means that field-based training must continue so that those in the work place currently can up-grade their skills. However, there needs to be more consistency between those undertaking field based programmes and those undertaking the three-year Diploma courses as on-campus students.
• We recommend that the current competitive climate between providers be replaced by tertiary institutions working together to provide the best programmes for emerging teachers for example, the joint 4-year degrees which Colleges of Education and Universities historically shared.

3. Should there be separate training for different groups?

Certain core courses are fundamental for all teachers, in ECE, primary, and secondary. These include:

• human development
• history and sociology of education
• principles of learning and teaching
• information literacy
• educational evaluation and assessment
• professional studies, including building constructive relationships with families and other professionals;
• managing behaviour;
• establishing the learning environment to meet group and
• individual needs.

Recommendations:

• We believe that separate courses should be provided for curriculum studies appropriate to different areas of education, but there are overlaps. Because of the diversity of entry points into the teaching profession and the growth in numbers of mature students (which we welcome and support), it is necessary that tutors should be available to all students to help them shape the choice of courses and depth in different fields that will best prepare them.
• Student teachers also need guidance in time management and self-management to prevent burnout and maintain their personal health and professional growth.
• Several member expressed concern that generic courses run the risk of a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing whereby spreading the knowledge base too thinly may make the emerging teacher ill-prepared for any educational context: for example, the new 0-8 year olds training programme. While the cultural, experiential and curriculum base are so different between ECE and school merging a training programme, with no extra time allowed for this, may make the teacher unlikely to be able to work successfully in either setting.

4. Are our teachers well prepared?

We believe that many of our teachers are, but there appears to be considerable variation, both as between different institutions and within the institutions themselves. Some institutions (and individuals within those institutions) provide excellent preparation in specific subjects or areas of educational theory, while others have other strengths - or very few! Many training providers

appear to rely on internships ('sections' ) to do their professional training for them and have very uneven results. Secondary training appears to be weakest in terms of the broad understanding of classroom dynamics and management.

Recommendations:

• We believe that bringing a more consistent approach to teacher training/education overall could help address these differences.

5. Ongoing teacher education

While pre-service training/education is the starting point for teachers it is only that a starting point. We believe that well resourced, well staffed, and freely available, ongoing teacher professional development/education is as important as how the teachers begin their journey into education.